The center will conduct and coordinate research and development activities on sustainable communities, serving as a statewide resource for metropolitan planning organizations, local governments, and policy makers. UCLA’s Institute of the Environment and Sustainability will serve as the lead for the center, which will be a multi-campus effort that includes UC Berkeley and UC Davis.

The center will provide data, models, methods, tools, and case studies to support:

• Creating more sustainable communities and assist in developing regional land use strategies;

• Reducing the use of automobiles and trucks and vehicle miles traveled (VMT); and

• Better land use planning and design of community systems.

The Commission also approved $83,355 to California State University, Sacramento to develop a workforce training and development program for the clean energy jobs needed to support California’s smart grid. The Commission’s funding leverages Sacramento State’s $749,992 American Recovery and Reinvestment Act award from the U.S. Department of Energy.

The project will identify the smart grid technologies requiring additional workforce training and support. The project will also create a smart grid workforce development model that can be replicated throughout the nation.

Funding for both projects comes from the Commission’s Public Interest Energy Research (PIER) program. The Public Interest Energy Research program supports public interest research and development that helps improve the quality of life in California by bringing environmentally safe, reliable, and affordable energy services and products to the marketplace.