SCE Helps Panda Restaurant Group Employees Drive Electric
SCE Helps Panda Restaurant Group Employees Drive Electric
Panda Restaurant Group, the company known for over 2,200 Panda Express restaurants worldwide, believes in being a responsible member of the community. That belief is reflected in how the company treats the environment.
“Panda Restaurant Group is very focused on sustainability,” said Stanley Liu, Panda vice president of Operation Services during a pre-COVID-19 interview at the company’s headquarters in Rosemead. “We see that here in this building with composting with reclaimed water, with LED lights and sensors.”
Although Panda employees are currently working from home during the COVID-19 crisis, more than 500 people work out of the headquarters building during normal operation.
Andrew and Peggy Cherng, the company’s founders and co-CEOs, drive electric vehicles, as do many others in the company. That’s why additional EV chargers in the Rosemead facility parking lot seemed like a natural fit. But there were challenges.
“We were thinking of adding quite a few more, and we were concerned that we would not have enough power in the building to handle the additional load,” Liu said. “So, in order to help with that challenge, we worked with SCE and they were very supportive in helping us bring in more power into the building.”
Panda connected with Southern California Edison through the Charge Ready program, which helps business customers with the cost of installing EV charging.
“SCE is happy to work together with companies like Panda Restaurant Group to help California achieve its goal of being carbon neutral by 2045,” said Carter Prescott, principal manager of Operations for SCE’s eMobility team. “Charge Ready makes it more convenient for employees who drive electric cars to play a part in the state’s clean energy future.”
“With the Charge Ready program, we were able to install 30 stations that are two-headed stations,” Liu said. “Now, we have 60 new chargers, which is fantastic.”
Liu said the construction, which added 30 charging stations with two charging ports each, went very well.
“This was a pretty big installation, ” Liu said. Even though the project took up half of the Rosemead facility’s back parking lot, it didn’t interrupt the company’s operations. “Edison was incredible in working around our timetable, working on weekends and working quickly.”
Since adding the new charging stations, even more employees have been encouraged to drive electric.
“Other associates very quickly got on the bandwagon to take advantage of being stewards of the environment as well as being able to save money and better their lives,” he said.
Liu said he would encourage other companies to consider SCE’s Charge Ready program.
“We’ve been very impressed with SCE’s Charge Ready program. It’s very collaborative,” he said. “It’s a true win-win partnership.”