Casey Rood has been part of City Light’s Customer Energy Solutions team since 2016 though he’s been at the City since 2014. “I interned at Parks and Recreation where I worked on environmental records,” he explained. “I expressed an interest in energy-related activities and through those opportunities, I got to work with City Light colleagues. Through luck, timing and hard work, I ended up at City Light and am now an Assistant Energy Management Analyst.”
A native Washingtonian, Casey grew up in Lacey. He attended school at Western Washington University where he double majored in economics and political science. “After college, I lived in Portland but after five years I pivoted up to Seattle and started working for the City.” He now lives in University Place with his wife Leanne and their Pitbull boxer Baxter.
In this week’s (spot)Light, Casey talks about his hobbies and work at City Light.
“We have many programs and projects that focus on energy conservation, so our customers call us when they’re looking to conserve energy. I’ve worked on the small business team and completed projects in Shoreline and Columbia City. Parks is another one of my accounts, so I still work very closely with my old manager which is nice. Seeing the customer reaction when we help them save energy and money is extremely rewarding because you know it makes a real difference in their life. Our programs are shifting as energy savings become harder to come by; it’s an exciting time to be at City Light and work in the energy industry.”
“I really enjoy the seasonality that Washington offers. I appreciate that I get to be an unapologetic cave troll during the winter months, playing games with my wife and friends and doing home projects. During the summer, we’ll enjoy the evenings with barbecues and biking. I’m your prototypical flannel-wearing PNW stereotype who roasts his own coffee beans and brews his own beer. I also spend a lot of time in the yard and have a unique hatred towards invasive species. My write often gives me funny looks when I go to great lengths to eradicate them. I have a personal vendetta with Japanese Knotweed.”
“I’ve always had an analytical mind and liked to tinker and build things growing up. My parents thought I would make a wonderful engineer. But I got a D in calculus my first quarter of college which helped me discover the social sciences. I studied environmental policy, environmental economics, resource economics – all kinds of cool stuff. It instilled the environmental ethos in me. When I graduated, I knew that I wanted to deal with energy and climate change on some level.”
“What I really love
about my work is that it holds real tangible results. You can see what you did and how your influence assisted your
customers. The results of my work are quantifiable and that has a positive
feedback loop. Most importantly, I know the work we do makes a difference in
the world. City Light is easily the best place I’ve worked. It took me extra
time to find the job and career I wanted, but it was worth it because I never
wake up in the morning thinking that I have to make it through another day at
work.”