"What’s most important is that we bring all of our communities along. Focusing particularly on communities that have been underserved, this VR project is a great way to meet them where they are."

- Jacobe Caditz, SMUD Community Education and Technology Center Coordinator

The Sacramento Municipal Utility District (SMUD), a community-owned electric utility serving the Sacramento area, takes its 2030 Zero Carbon Plan seriously. Eliminating all carbon emissions in the generation mix by 2030 is an aggressive goal, and one that needs innovative programs to support it. Programs that use technology to solve big-world problems, like Virtual Reality.

VR user prepares to board the helicopter tour

SMUD came to Froliq, a Zpryme company, with a problem: how can you reach thousands of students and get them to take a hydropower facility tour, a facility that is high up the mountains and off a bunch of dirt roads?

Jacobe Caditz, manager of SMUD’s Community Education and Technology Center, wanted to be able to show students how hard-to-reach hydro facilities take water stored  behind a dam to create clean electricity. Froliq developers Jorge Ortiz and Rebekah Diaz knew just what to do; pile them all into a helicopter and fly them up the mountain. Virtually, of course.

SMUD’s Jacobe Caditz explains how students can view hard-to-reach hydro facilities with VR

“What’s most important is that we bring all of our communities along. Focusing particularly on communities that have been underserved, this VR project is a great way to meet them where they are,” says Caditz. “They don’t have to travel from our urban areas up to the mountains, which aren’t very accessible, instead, they get the chance to explore them virtually.”

Mark Ishac, Creative Director for Froliq, has long been an advocate for using programs like VR to reach broad groups of people, especially communities that have typically been under-represented, underserved, or otherwise have accessibility issues. “What we’ve done with SMUD is reduce all physical and economic barriers, creating equal access to anyone who wants to learn more about clean energy, hydro power, or even opportunities beyond that.”

A full-on damn and ecosystem are displayed from the helicopter VR tour

Caditz is hopeful students and participants get excited about things like STEM and think about how they can impact their own future and be a part of their own energy future by possibly getting involved in the energy economy themselves. “We have some great workforce development programming,’ Caditz points out.

“It all starts by reaching out to the community with innovative projects like this, educating them about our 2030 Zero Carbon Plan, and showing them how they can be a part of the effort.”

For more information on Froliq or to schedule interviews with SMUD, please contact:

Bethany Ruhe
bethany.ruhe@zpryme.com
412.443.7969