The 16th Annual California Climate and Energy Forum was held July 9-10, 2025 in San Jose, California. The theme of the forum was “Hope in Action: Local Leads the Way.”

This year we saw our audience grow to over 554, representing 129 cities across California. The CCEC Forum engaged a new audience with 65% of registrants attending their first forum, 36% of attendees being under 35, and 67.7% being women. 48 scholarship recipients were able to attend due to registration and travel scholarships. The organizations represented were also diverse across sectors, with 39% of participants representing a city or county, 16% coming from a nonprofit organization, 18% being a private sector business, 8% representing a CCA or utility, and the remainder coming from other agencies, academia, and more!

The forum featured 100 speakers across 2 plenary sessions, 20 breakout sessions, and 15 posters presented during an evening reception. Throughout the program, breakout sessions and plenaries alike sought to highlight and foster conversations on the equity concerns of the energy transition in California by engaging a diverse audience working on multiple fronts in the climate & energy space. Topics covered include electrification, energy efficiency, clean energy, equitable decarbonization, environmental justice, community engagement and community driven-action, electric vehicles, building codes and standards, and more!

The presentations shared at the forum and other resources are available on our website!

“This was my first time at CCEC and it was truly inspiring. Hundreds of like-minded individuals collaborating and working together to make progress solving some of our biggest challenges. I’m inspired and will be back next year!” -Charlie Benzyk, SPURR

“CCEC is a great place to connect with local government leaders and learn about cutting-edge projects and programs happening across the state!” – Lauren Seymour, Assistant Director of Energy Services, The Energy Coalition

Additional information about this year’s forum can be found here. The impact report for the 16th Annual Forum can be found here.

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