who owns the grid?
Clean energy is on the rise, but who decides where it gets built, who pays for it, and who gets left out? This panel breaks down the power behind the power: utilities, regulators, and the communities pushing back. We’ll unpack the grid, spotlight grassroots energy justice efforts, and ask the big question: what would a people-powered energy system look like? Speakers include representatives from Reclaim Our Power and California Public Utilities Commission.
Speakers (bios below!):
Sophie Babka - Integrated Resource Planning at California Public Utilities Commission
Travis Gibrael - Reclaim Our Power
Panel Hosts:
Zach Woogen and Josh Papernik - energy market nerds
People’s Climate Week is a homegrown climate gathering for young folks in the Bay Area. We aim to create space for practical climate solutions that span individual action, local policy advocacy, and systemic change.
Join us May 3-10, 2025, for a week of events centered on sharing knowledge, removing barriers to change, and forging connections. We hope you engage and come away with tangible lessons to make a difference. Any action, no matter how small, can change the game.
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- Travis Gibrael is the Research and Popular Education Organizer at the Reclaim Our Power Utility Justice Campaign. Reclaim Our Power is a frontline-community led coalition of over 90 organizations fighting to transform California's investor owned utilities from extractive, profit-seeking corporations that serve the interests and priorities of shareholders to not-for-profit alternatives that center the needs of the land and people of the state, particularly low-income, disadvantaged, and communities of color. Previous to his work with Reclaim Our Power, Travis was a co-founder of the North Carolina-based energy company EnerWealth Solutions, which develops solar and storage projects within Rural Electric Cooperatives through an equity and community empowerment lens. He is also a NABCEP certified solar technician and has worked for the Bay Area nonprofit, Sunwork Renewable Energy Projects for the past 6 years. He has a Master's degree in Environmental Social Work from the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill and lives with his wife and daughter at an Oakland nonprofit committed to restorative justice and alternative economics.
- Sophie Babka is a Senior Analyst at the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC), where she serves on the Integrated Resource Planning (IRP) team. She is lead on the IRP Cycle and Assembly Bill (AB) 1373 Central Procurement implementation, focusing on long-term renewable resource procurement to ensure grid reliability and reduce greenhouse gas emissions across California.
Before joining the IRP team, Sophie worked at the Public Advocates Office—a watchdog organization representing California ratepayers in CPUC proceedings—where she focused on affordability and cost-effectiveness in the Net Energy Metering and Energy Efficiency proceedings.
She graduated with Honors from U.C. Berkeley with a BS in Environmental Sciences and minors in Energy Resources and Public Policy.
Outside of work, Sophie enjoys teaching yoga, cooking, and spending time outdoors.
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