About
Citizen Energy was founded in 2012 with a vision to bring people together to increase the adoption of energy efficiency and accelerate the transition to a 100% clean energy economy. Through our Efficiency as-a-Service solution, we implement energy saving building upgrades for no upfront capital and simple monthly payments.
Our experienced team and partners evaluate, finance, design, install, and manage the ongoing performance of building technologies.
Our customers own or lease government, commercial, industrial or multifamily buildings and many are underserved small to midsize business owners and organizations. Our customers also save significantly on their energy bills and maintenance budgets, and reduce their impact on carbon emissions.
Citizen Energy was founded by former U.S. Department of Energy employees and is headquartered in Washington, DC.
Founders
Edwin Luevanos Co-Founder & Chief Executive Officer
Edwin is responsible for leading Citizen Energy’s day to day operations, strategy and organizational development. In 2018, he led the acquisition and joint venture for a subsidiary, GLP LED, focused on the distribution, project engineering and installation of LED lighting products.
Prior to founding Citizen Energy, Edwin worked at the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and served as the Deputy Director for the first Federal IT modernization Energy Savings Performance Contract (ESPC). He also led agency-wide initiatives to reduce distributed IT energy demand through advanced power management software and green procurement strategies.
During the Recovery Act, Edwin had the unique opportunity to support The White House and Obama administration in implementing outreach strategies for over $75 billion in clean energy investments. Edwin also pioneered innovative public engagement and workforce development initiatives like the U.S. Senate recognized Energy Ambassadors Program and 3-D web platforms for government. Edwin is involved with several environmental non-profits and has worked on the expansion of youth leadership development programs for the Hispanic community.
Edwin obtained his undergraduate degree from California State University Fresno, and a Masters in Business from Boston University.
Chris Castro Co-Founder
Chris has a passion for co-creation of smart, resilient, and sustainable cities in balance with nature. Chris is known as a national leader in sustainability and clean energy and, in 2018, he had a lead role in the National Geographic documentary “Paris to Pittsburgh”.
Chris started his journey founding IDEAS For Us, a global UN-accredited 501c3 nonprofit with a mission to incubate innovative sustainability projects.
Chris is currently a Senior Advisor to Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer, Director of Sustainability & Resilience, and ‘Future-Ready’ steering committee member for the City of Orlando; developing policies & programs to advance the City’s sustainability, clean energy, & climate action goals. Chris also sits on nearly a dozen nonprofit and academic boards, including the Florida Solar Energy Center, US Green Building Council of Florida, Project Greenschools, and Goodwill Industries of Central Florida. He has previously held positions with University of Central Florida, Orange County Government, and the U.S. Department of Energy.
Over the years, Chris has been internationally recognized including being named the 2018 Public Official of the Year by Governing, the ‘Guru of Green’ by the Orlando Business Journal, the Grist 50 Fixer Award, Top 30 Under 30 sustainability professionals by GreenBiz, and formal recognitions from President Bill Clinton, President Jimmy Carter, and Vice President Al Gore.