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California and Jalisco Sign Agreement for Promise of a Brighter Future

California and the Mexican state of Jalisco have signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to collaborate and reaffirm a commitment to share knowledge on clean energy efforts to combat climate change. 


The MOU, which was signed March 9, builds on years of collaboration between California and Jalisco State and the Mexican federal government on energy efficiency. The partnership has led to the recent opening of a lighting efficiency center in Jalisco. The center is modeled on the California Lighting Technology Center at the University of California, Davis. 


Jalisco, like California, is at the forefront in researching and deploying clean energy technology. The 15,000-square-foot lighting center was created to accelerate the development and adoption of energy-efficient lighting and daylighting technologies. Such efforts can help Mexico meet its long-term energy efficiency and greenhouse gas emission reduction goals. 


Commissioner J. Andrew McAllister of the California Energy Commission (CEC) attended the opening ceremony for the Centro de Tecnología en Iluminación (CTI) at the Universidad Autónoma de Guadalajara. 


“The CTI is an example of how we will find solutions that apply here, there and far beyond—through collaboration. These actions are going to change Mexico and the world,” McAllister said at the December ceremony. 


The center, which highlights the university’s futuristic lighting technology, has 11 laboratories that can simulate a range of environments such as retail, classroom, and health care. With space for research, demonstrations, and benchmark testing, the facility will help support technological innovations. The plan is to build talent and human capital for Mexico’s lighting industry by offering on-site training and certification. 


The center’s roots can be traced to a 2016 MOU signed by CEC Chair Robert B. Weisenmiller and Jalisco Governor Aristóteles Sandoval at the Climate Summit of the Americas in Guadalajara, Mexico. The MOU supported cooperation on clean energy policies and programs involving energy efficiency, renewable energy development and grid integration, and low- and zero-emission vehicles. 


In 2017, the Mexican Ministry of Energy and the Mexican Council for Science and Technology awarded funds to the Universidad Autónoma de Guadalajara to partner with UC Davis to establish the center. The facility provides the vehicle to translate energy-efficient research into action and train professionals with the information to implement it.

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California Energy Commission

The California Energy Commission is the state's primary energy policy and planning agency created by the Legislature in 1974.
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