River City Bank Clean Energy Video Transcript

{Rosa Hilmarsdottir Cucicea, VP/Clean Energy Division Manager, River City Bank}

Rosa: For the past 10 years, River City Bank has been committed to clean energy. We officially launched a clean energy division in 2018 to continue to support our lasting relationships with CCAs in California, as well as, expand into financing renewable energy projects and supporting clean tech and sustainable companies.

{Don Eckert, Director of Finance & Administration, Silicon Valley Clean Energy}

Don: As a start-up, no credit. No one was willing to actually work with us and we were very pleased when we talked to other CCAs that had been around, only a few before us, to reach out to River City Bank. We were very happy to have that expertise because they already had two or three years of experience working in our business model. They were the first and only bank to work with community choice aggregators. They came, worked with us, gave us the credit to be able to secure power supply. So without River City Bank, Silicon Valley Clean Energy does not exist.

{Trupti Kalbag, Director Power Marketing, sPower}

Trupti: So the California energy market is evolving very fast and River City Bank’s agile team brings very creative solutions to the table which allows sPower to be more competitive and gives us the winning edge. The River City Bank team is very professional and responsive as we work through very complex challenges. They always make us feel like a very valued customer. sPower and River City Bank share the same office building in San Francisco, so they’re just an elevator ride away from us which gives us great access to their team.

{Mitch Sears, Interim General Manager, Valley Clean Energy}

Mitch: River City’s mindset is not historical. It’s very futuristic. They are willing to adapt with us, as conditions change, as we mature as an organization, as we move from startup phase to launch into operations. And so we’re looking for partners that really have an understanding of what our mission is and that’s what we find with River City Bank as well. And our experience with them and the experience that they’ve had with other CCAs that they really want to see this succeed because they’re community-based and that’s something that’s important to us because we’re community-based also.

Don: One of the real appreciations that I have for River City Bank is that I have that direct access to Rosa. We meet with Steve Fleming, the CEO, at least two or three times a year. You just feel like they’re part of the business as opposed to just a bank.

Rosa: We’re very honored to be a part of making California a cleaner and greener place.