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Founding CEO of Ava Community Energy, Nick Chaset, has shared plans to leave the agency this summer. With the pending departure, Ava will begin the formal process to fill the position in the coming months.
In a recent statement, Chaset stated he would be resigning from the community choice aggregation agency serving areas in Alameda and San Joaquin counties to become a senior executive at an unidentified global clean energy company. Chaset will remain as Ava’s CEO until July 15, representatives said.
Chaset has worked with Ava since its founding in 2017, when it was known as East Bay Community Energy, serving as the agency’s first CEO. Prior to Ava, he worked as chief of staff for the California Public Utilities Commission.
“I joined Ava because I wanted to build a clean energy agency that would operate at a scale large enough to bend the trajectory of the clean energy transition in a meaningful way,” Chaset said in the announcement. “My goal with Ava was to show our community that clean energy can be more affordable, more reliable, and just plain better than fossil fuel. And, over the past seven years, we have achieved just that.”
Chaset added, “I’m proud of the fact that Ava Community Energy has become a national trailblazer in broadening equitable access to clean energy, building resilience in our communities, and creating a broader demand for clean energy solutions.”
Under Chaset’s leadership, Ava maintained a consistent 95% customer retention rate and added five new jurisdictions to its original coverage area, representatives said.
The non-for-profit energy provider currently serves 1.7 million residents in Alameda County and the city of Tracy. Next year the agency will expand its services to parts of the Central Valley in Stockton and Lathrop.
Alameda County District 2 Supervisor Elisa Marquez shared appreciation for Chaset’s work in the region with clean energy.
“With Nick as CEO, Ava established and has maintained an ‘A’ credit rating as well as set a target of 100% clean energy by 2030 – 15 years ahead of Californias goal,” said Marquez. “Nick’s visionary leadership has helped Ava to become a national blueprint for how to build the infrastructure needed to decarbonize our communities.”
Pleasanton City Councilmember Jack Balch, who sits as chair of Ava’s executive committee, also shared words of praise for the outgoing CEO.
“Under Nick’s direction, Ava Community Energy has become one of the largest purveyors of 100% renewable energy in the entire country,” Balch said. “The entire Ava community is grateful for Nick’s ongoing contributions in bringing broader access to clean energy to residents across the East Bay and the Valley.”
Ava is expected to share additional updates on its search for Chaset’s successor later this year.
