FCI Management helps CLEAResult bring energy services to those who need it most
FCI Management, led by President and CEO Patricia Watts, delivers comprehensive energy solutions that provide energy efficiency and clean energy technologies for homes and businesses across the country.
CLEAResult first partnered with FCI Management in 2020 and together the companies have fostered a vibrant and collaborative business relationship, expanding the reach of energy efficiency programs to small businesses and income-eligible households across multiple states.
Watts began her career at one of the nation’s most high-profile electric utility companies, gaining decades of experience working in various roles from within the call center to public affairs. She spent about ten years managing energy conservation programs with all types of customers including residential, small to medium businesses and large industrials.
After accepting early retirement from the utility, Watts started a second career launching FCI Management. This was shortly after the energy crisis of 2001, where several factors led to Californians experiencing rolling blackouts, which were especially painful for those in the most vulnerable communities. Starting FCI allowed Watts to combine her passion for helping small businesses with her tremendous experience in energy efficiency. Some of FCI’s earliest work included small business direct programs.
“Since the beginning, it’s been all about helping people and businesses in low-income communities reduce their energy bills,” Watts shared.
Today, in partnership with CLEAResult, FCI leads community outreach and project management of no-cost lighting upgrades for small businesses across the state of Oregon. Program Director Brooke Landon says, “FCI’s experience helping small businesses has been invaluable in reaching this segment of customers, often in rural communities, throughout the state who have been underserved by efficiency programs in the past.” In 2024 alone, FCI supported more than 1,200 small businesses such as bookstores, churches, food banks, restaurants and vineyards, leading to over $3.4 million in savings on their energy bills.
Since partnering with CLEAResult, Watts has continued to see significant growth, saying, “One of the reasons our programs are growing is because the entire team, FCI and CLEAResult, collaborates and works together to achieve the goal. We work well together and have adjusted over the years to continue to get more customer participation. This is a collective effort.” Watts is proud of the trust that FCI and CLEAResult are building with the community and how it has promoted the use of high-efficient heating, ventilation, air conditioning, as well as free home energy assessments and home energy score reports for small businesses and low-income households.
Watts is committed to addressing energy inequities and serving the unique needs of under-resourced communities, which is why she serves on the board of directors for the California African American Chamber of Commerce (Chair), the California Public Utility Commission’s Low-Income Oversight Board, Advisory Board and is past chair of the CA American Association of Blacks in Energy and formerly the California Efficiency and Demand Management Council.
Over the past two decades, FCI has helped hundreds of thousands of homes and businesses lower their energy bills and gain access to cleaner energy technologies, earning Watts a spot in the California Energy Commission’s Clean Energy Hall of Fame in 2024. She also found another way to collaborate with CLEAResult when she joined the team to deliver a panel discussion at the 2023 CLEAResult Energy Forum and later an AESP session on Sustainable Diverse Partnerships, where she shared her expertise on the growing need for diverse partners to help utilities reach low-and-moderate income (LMI) households and hard-to-reach markets.