Garner Chung is a Senior Software Engineer based in Opower’s San Francisco office, where he works on our Thermostats team

For nearly ten years I worked to provide effective field organizing tools for labor unions, advocacy organizations, and political campaigns. I spent the last three years at a campaign technology company that’s developed an array of essential face-to-face organizing tools, including geographic segmentation, reporting systems and demographic targeting. Arriving at Opower, I’m excited to continue driving technology’s role in fostering positive change.

What made you want to join Opower?

As I got to know the thermostat team here and grew to understand what Opower as a whole is doing to drive energy efficiency, I realized that this was the real deal. With a 16 month old child at home, climate change and energy policy are dearly important to me. I believe Opower will continue to create new and effective ways to encourage consumers to save energy. And of course, I was drawn to the people here. I feel incredibly lucky and fortunate to be part of such a talented and motivated team.

What has been your favorite thing about Opower so far?

The people. Every day I see a lot of hard work, integrity and talent.

What are some of your hobbies?

If I could hit pause and have a month to myself, I’d probably ride my bike down the Pacific coast into Mexico.

Forget what you learned in elementary school. Sometimes it’s good to be disruptive.

On Friday, Opower was named by CNBC News as one of five pioneering companies whose innovations are disrupting the energy industry’s status quo. Other winners included LightSail Energy (for its technology that stores heat energy via compressed air) and Picarro (whose diagnostic tools precisely measure greenhouse gas emissions).

What does “disruption” actually mean? In selecting companies for its “Disruptors 50 List” (which spanned ten industries, five companies in each), CNBC asked its panel of venture capitalists and market experts to consider factors like continuous innovation, technology solutions that meet business needs simply and cost-effectively, and the ability to scale quickly.

Opower fit the bill: we are constantly developing products that make it easy for utility customers to save energy and money, and our business and environmental impact is growing fast. We’re now working in seven countries, and with 8 of the 10 biggest utility companies in the US. Already we’ve helped customers around the world save $280 million on their energy bills, and we’re on track to help them save another $150 million this year.

Other companies ranking among CNBC’s Top-50 Disruptors include prominent start-ups like Airbnb, Kickstarter, and Twitter.

For more details, check out the full press release as well as the below video featuring CNBC’s Top 5 Energy Disruptors (with coverage of Opower kicking off at the 1:19 mark).

It’s May 17th, and you know what that means: it’s Bike to Work Day in the Washington DC Metro Area! 

We’re proud to say, however, that in many ways it was just business as usual this morning at Opower headquarters. A lot of us did what we’re accustomed to doing: rolling into work on two wheels.

Opower Bike to Work Day - Group Photo!

All of our offices boast their share of dedicated cyclists. In fact, more of us are pedaling than ever, now that Washington DC and London have well-developed urban bike sharing systems. And even though the City of San Francisco still lacks a full-fledged bike share scheme, our folks there aren’t deterred: on a typical day, a formidable 20% of our ~100 San Francisco Oployees bike into the office!

Wall-to-wall bike storage at our Arlington Headquarters

Given that biking is 50 times more energy efficient than driving a car (in terms of raw energy burned per passenger mile) and infinitely less polluting, we wholeheartedly endorse it and aspire to make it easy and fun for our people. Our offices feature designated bike storage, a growing set of maintenance tools, and even organized group rides in the evenings.

Today, in the spirit of Bike to Work Day, the number of Opower bike riders soared. It didn’t hurt that it was a balmy morning in the DC area. Sources say that many Oployees were motivated by the promise of a free catered breakfast upon arriving by bike (see below). Meanwhile, our behavioral science experts are contending that participation was high mainly thanks to social pressure, since we were told yesterday that “the majority of our colleagues would also be riding into work.”

Breakfast is served to O-Cyclists upon arrival on Bike to Work Day

And of course biking at Opower isn’t only an outdoor or commuting activity: our bi-coastal fleet of blender bikes are always at the ready to whip up a refreshing fruit smoothie. Just add pedal power.

Oployees turning kinetic energy into deliciousness on the blender bikes this morning

Ahhh, how refreshing.

Our Office Manager Donald gulps down a yummy bike-blended smoothie to celebrate Bike to Work Day