AZ League Connection

The League's Monthly Online Newsletter

Issue 180: April 2018

City Snapshot: City of Tempe Adopts Carbon Neutrality Goal

The City of Tempe has strengthened its commitment to sustainability by adopting a new carbon neutrality goal by 2050 with a strategy of sourcing 100 percent of its electricity from renewable sources by 2035.

The City Council approved the resolution for this goal at its March 8 Regular Council Meeting. The carbon reduction goal will be achieved in partnership with Arizona Public Service (APS) and Salt River Project (SRP), the utilities that provide power to the city. The strategy of sourcing energy from renewable sources applies to the city’s municipal electricity use for city buildings, streetlights, and water operations.

“Tempe’s proposal is a collaborative, responsible approach to this complex issue. As a national leader in clean energy, APS is proud to partner with the city on its efforts to attain carbon neutrality in municipal operations,” said Kent Walter, manager of Customer Technology Product Development for APS. “We look forward to working hand-in-hand to increase the city’s energy efficiency, fleet electrification and investment in clean technologies in an affordable way.” Since August, a City Manager’s working group comprised of Mayor Mark Mitchell and Councilmembers Lauren Kuby and Randy Keating have been exploring the idea of increasing a 2014 City Council-authorized goal to have 20 percent of city operations using renewable energy by 2025.

Currently, the city has achieved 10 percent renewable energy by using rooftop solar on city facilities. Rooftop solar will save the city nearly $2.3 million over the next 20 years. Two additional rooftop solar projects are being developed for the Johnny G. Martinez and South Tempe water treatment plants.

In 2016, through the Global Covenant of Energy and Climate, the city committed to create a Climate Action Plan (CAP). Today, with the CAP process underway, Tempe chose to reassess its current renewable energy target for municipal energy, which is one of the integral parts of any CAP.

Tempe’s CAP will be completed in 2019, and will include targets for greenhouse gas emissions and renewable energy. Greenhouse gas emissions include carbon emissions, which come from the city’s electricity use, transportation emissions, and emissions associated with waste and water systems. When developed, the Climate Action Plan will include both goals for municipal use as well as emissions for the whole city including residential and commercial energy use and citywide transportation emissions. The effort to build citywide policy will include extensive input from residents and the Tempe business community. The resolution passed this week is only to guide decisions around city operations, and it just one component of the city’s multiple-year work on climate action.

“It is clear from the public feedback we received that Tempe residents really want us to be a leader in this new, clean energy economy, and that’s why we’re acting,” said Kuby. “It's important to understand that setting these goals begins a multi-year conversation between the City of Tempe, our residents and businesses and our utility partners. We’ll be making these future decisions together about investments that best represent our values and maximize savings.”

The resolution makes no budget commitments. The policy will not require any significant new spending beyond what is already approved in the fiscal year 2017-2018 Capital Improvement Projects (CIP) program which lays out spending over the next five years. The policy is meant to encourage the city to work with utilities on larger-scale projects that are cost effective and reduce carbon emissions. All future investments in renewable and clean energy technology will be subject to Tempe’s regular budgeting process, which is open, transparent and done with public input. Staff estimates that the city will be able to reach its goal without increasing current levels of spending on energy in the CIP.

The working group explored what other cities are doing with their energy and carbon goals and led detailed discussions with stakeholders including local utilities, environmental organizations, energy researchers, and hosted a public meeting for residents. Based on feedback collected, the working group determined that a focus on carbon neutrality for city operations complemented the city’s approach to its first CAP.

The renewable energy field is evolving quickly with emerging technologies under evaluation each day. As solar and other emerging technologies become more feasible, staff will analyze what tools may best move the city forward toward reaching its goal.

 

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