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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2025-06-13 Climate Action and Sustainability Committee Summary MinutesCLIMATE ACTION & SUSTAINABILITY COMMITTEE SUMMARY MINUTES Page 1 of 9 Regular Meeting June 13, 2025 The Climate Action & Sustainability Committee of the City of Palo Alto met on this date in the Community Meeting Room and by virtual teleconference at 1:30 P.M. Present In-Person: Veenker (Chair), Lu Present Remotely: Burt Absent: None Call to Order Vice Mayor Veenker called the meeting to order. The clerk called the roll and declared all were present. Public Comment David C. thanked the Committee for the resolution upholding Palo Alto values and protection against the current Administration. The Committee was reminded of involvement in No Kings Day and stressed the importance of democracy. Standing Verbal Reports A. Staff Comments Brad Eggleston, Director of Public Works, reported that the Youth Climate Advisory Board (YCAB) celebrated the first school year of climate action and sustainability work. Subcommittees will continue projects over the summer, and a progress report will be made to the City Council in August. A new group of YCAB members will be selected by the end of this month for the upcoming school year. Director Eggleston mentioned the Full-Service Heat Pump Water Heater Program had installed 5 to 10 of the 120V plug-in water heaters. This represented approximately 2 percent of total installations. The Emergency Water Heater Replacement Program had installed 6 of the 120V heat pump water heaters, which equated to about 30 percent of those installations to date. The team had been monitoring field studies of the 120V plug-ins throughout the U.S. The program guidelines were tailored to incorporate best practices so customers with plug-in pump water heaters had sufficient water to meet their needs. Standards incorporated in the Palo Alto SUMMARY MINUTES Page 2 of 9 Climate Action & Sustainability Committee Meeting Summary Minutes: 6/13/2025 program included the size of the water heaters, which was upsized by 2 relative to gas water heaters to meet minimum plumbing code specifications recommended for moderate-size homes and small families. The placement should be in conditioned spaces avoiding outdoor placement, and the tank temperature should be set to 140°F. At the request of the Committee, Director Eggleston will provide data on what household sizes have used the 120V heat pump water heaters in Palo Alto and any feedback on negative experience with inadequacy. Director Eggleston stated the Low Carbon Concrete Reach Code requirements were available in Palo Alto Municipal Code Section 16.14.240. This set the standards for concrete to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. This applied to all Tier 1 and Tier 2 residential and non-residential projects. Most remodels and new constructions were included. The cement limit pathway limited the cement content of concrete. The embodied carbon limits pathway required use of certified lower emission materials. The Building Department had used the cement limit pathway since January of 2023. The Committee will be supplied with estimates of carbon reduction as a result of the program, including Scope 3 reductions. Improvements for next year include identifying head of staff who will mentor and provide project ideas. There were currently 11 members, with a maximum of 15. B. Committee Member Comments and Announcements Vice Mayor Veenker reported the Silicon Valley Youth Climate Action Group Youth Climate Summit was taking place in August. This was co-sponsored by the League of California Cities Peninsula Division. It will be in Campbell from 9:30 to 3:00. Panel discussions will take place, and council members were encouraged to participate. The next meeting of the Recycling and Waste Reduction Commission of the County will take place on June 26, 2025. The last meeting extended product responsibility rulemaking for manufacturers in the County’s food waste program. Regarding the Northern California Power Agency, there was an understanding that the California ISO approved a second transmission line coming into Palo Alto. The Commission for the Air District passed budget and new fee schedules. The Policy Grants and Technology Committee Meeting is next week. The Board Meeting will take place on July 2, 2025. The Stationary Source Committee had potential amendments to appliance rules, including mandates regarding no-NOx appliances being discussed. Councilmember Lu stated that 2 members of the Palo Alto Student Climate Coalition presented the argument and current situation of SB 684, which was referred to as “make polluters pay.” This measured monetary damages from effects of climate change and applied fines to fossil fuel companies. The status of the bill was uncertain. Councilmember Lu will monitor the bill through Student Climate Coalition members and provide updates at future meetings. Councilmember Burt shared that the MTC Planning Committee recommended approval of Plan Bay Area 2050+ to the Board. There will be a complete redo in the next couple years. This covered GHG reductions that would result from the strategies of the plan that were attributable to MTC's actions. There would be an impact on the whole region in GHG reductions, which was relevant when calculating projected reductions. This would make staff SUMMARY MINUTES Page 3 of 9 Climate Action & Sustainability Committee Meeting Summary Minutes: 6/13/2025 aware what regional reductions from transportation would reduce the GHG inbound and outbound commute trips. This was being adopted now and will be presented to the Board promptly. Agenda Items 1. Approval of Schedule for 2025 Climate Action and Sustainability Committee Meetings Director Eggleston stated that the Committee meetings being held on Fridays, tried to find dates that worked for both Committee members and staff. These were regular monthly meetings for the remainder of the calendar year. Due to agenda and flow, two meetings were proposed for September. Councilmember Lu mentioned conflicts to his attendance where he would most likely be able to attend remotely on August 22, September 19, and October 3. Vice Mayor Veenker proposed that because the September 19 and October 3 meetings would be back-to-back, and that she would not want Councilmember Lu to miss both of those, that perhaps one of those dates could be adjusted. October 3 would conflict with the wedding of Councilmember Lu. It was suggested that the Schedule be approved and look at the October 3 date. MOTION: Vice Mayor Veenker moved, seconded by Councilmember Lu, to approve the following schedule for its regular meetings through calendar year 2025: • August 22, 2025, 1:30 P.M. • September 5, 2025, 1:30 P.M. • September 19, 1:30 P.M. • October 3, 2025, 1:30 P.M. • November 14, 2025, 1:30 P.M. • December 12, 2025, 1:30 P.M. MOTION PASSED: 3-0 1. Discussion of Gas Utility Transition Study Scoping; CEQA Status - Not a Project Jonathan Abendschein, Assistant Director, Climate Action, provided a slide presentation to the Committee to ensure the scope will get the answers, results, and information needed to make SUMMARY MINUTES Page 4 of 9 Climate Action & Sustainability Committee Meeting Summary Minutes: 6/13/2025 policy decisions. City, state, and regional policies drive building electrification. If successful, gas use will decline significantly. The City must plan for financial, physical, and safety impacts to enable a safe, smooth, equitable transition. This was a Council priority. The study will address operational and financial impacts, provide the costs of gas main and service abandonment, and provide data to understand how electrification will affect gas utility costs and cost impacts to other utilities in the General Fund. This data will be used to manage the transition safely and responsibly. Strategies will be developed to facilitate abandonment and mitigate physical and financial impacts. The 4 scenarios for modeling purposes were presented; however, those scenarios excluded medical and industrial electrification. Blocks of gas infrastructure identified as underused or unused will be retired. Gas mains of certain sizes may need to be retained for operational purposes. The cost efficiency of block-level gas system retirement showed abandoning by block versus by service was less expensive. One of the main drawbacks included homeowners having to remove all gas appliances before the retirement can be accomplished. There could be a reduction in the workload of the gas utility but not enough to cause staff attrition. This would increase the per-unit gas cost for remaining customers. Shared costs may shift to other utilities. Preliminary results will be shared by fall of 2025 with an anticipated final report by early 2026. Vice Mayor Veenker mentioned that the staff did not request any particular action but wanted feedback on the scope of the study. Councilmember Lu felt the direction and approach were great. The timelines were appreciated, and good clarification was provided. One of the major concerns was how to incentivize residents and how the program could work outside of this study. The percentage of homes that disconnected corresponded to the percentage reduction in climate emissions. Councilmember Lu thought it was important to track the number of people incrementally electrifying appliances and look at the trajectory. It was queried if the modeling was repeatable and flexible. The question was posed if there was a difference in cost projection when evaluating a multifamily block disconnection versus a single-family block disconnection. Using real-world data from other pilots was suggested, such as possibly data from Albany and Zurich. Director Abendschein commented there was a meeting with the working group this past week. A lot of the questions focused on how this could affect the likelihood that people will retire their gas systems. It was affirmed that the FY26 budget provided funding for learning about related programs and the involvement of pilots. The gas financial model can be used to look at the current state of the system and any simulations. The goal was to look at the usage of each parcel. A lot of work must be done before removing a single gas connection to a multifamily building. A multifamily building with 30 units was analogous to a block with 30 single family homes. Councilmember Burt asked which other Cities or utilities had similar programs and meaningful data or models because he thought it was beneficial to engage with any of those entities. It was SUMMARY MINUTES Page 5 of 9 Climate Action & Sustainability Committee Meeting Summary Minutes: 6/13/2025 mentioned that Stanford University might have an interest in collaborating, and there could be a high value with their research and partnership. Vice Mayor Veenker circled back to the 20 percent medical and industrial left over and the fact that this excluded the cost of retiring the entire system. The question was raised if there would be significant additional costs, which was beneficial to know as early as possible. It was felt that the block-by-block approach was good because of safety and efficiency; however, there must be 100 percent consensus. Director Abendschein stated that when operational costs were considered regarding the 80 percent scenario, there will be an idea of what the savings are, and then a calculation can be made of the entire physical abandonment cost. Currently, it cannot be accurately estimated what other costs might be encountered. The working group was thinking about strategies to get the holdouts to agree to retire gas appliances. To consider how aggressive the program policy should be, Councilmember Lu suggested simulating that when 70, 80, and 90 percent electrification was achieved on a block that the block would be disconnected 1 year later. Director Abendschein responded that there was a maximum orderly and maximum disorderly electrification scenario performed in 2021 for the Utilities Advisory Commission. This scenario showed rates that matched the forecast at the time, and maximum disorderly was 50 percent higher than the gas forecast. The current program used more of a random simulation approach. It will assign likelihoods to see what is achieved depending upon the number of simulations. The analysis will provide the information needed to assist with modeling policy options and aggressiveness. This would be part of the second phase of the analysis in 2026/2027. Item 2 Public Comment 1. Stephen R. (Zoom) opined it seemed there was an assumption that industrial users systems cannot be retired, which should be looked at very carefully. There were plenty of ways to replace natural gas as a heat source using either electric heaters or heat pumps. The remaining few gas customers needed to assume gas rates will go up very quickly, as the cost will fall completely on them. A cost penalty for this should be in place. A lot of help will come from the Bay Area Air District Rules 9-4 and 9-6, which prevented the sales of gas, hot water, and space-heating appliances on a timetable going out to 2030. Harvest Thermal had a unit that combined space heating, air- conditioning, hot water, and energy storage in a single system and might be a way to get people to switch over quickly. 2. Tom K. commented that he was glad this effort was being undertaken. The large decommissioning costs of gas utilization should be estimated and allocated now for volumetric changes. Incentivize escaping those costs by participating in electrification. This gives residents freedom of choice. SUMMARY MINUTES Page 6 of 9 Climate Action & Sustainability Committee Meeting Summary Minutes: 6/13/2025 Director Abendschein clarified there was not an assumption that industrial users will not be able to decrease usage but there was uncertainty on how to model it. There were tools to allocate costs to remaining gas customers. It would be a policy choice for the City to subsidize. Revenue sources must be consistent with state, constitutional, and regulatory law. 3. Recommendation to City Council to Accept the E-Mobility Strategic Roadmap; CEQA Status - Under CEQA Guidelines Section 15183, Projects Consistent with an Existing General or Comprehensive Plan do not Require Additional CEQA Review Director Abendschein presented the goals, which included the City Council acceptance of the E- Mobility Strategic Roadmap. E-mobility included cars, e-scooters, e-bikes, e-trucks, and e- aviation. Guidelines on other work plans were implemented to incorporate e-mobility. A consultant study needed assessment to determine how many chargers were required for different levels of vehicle adoption. VMT reduction can be short or long term. GHG reduction was being sought in the shorter term. Transportation goals were to seek as much VMT reduction as possible. Last-mile solutions, maintenance barriers to e-bike adoption, bike safety, and benefits of VMT reduction were discussed. S/CAP transportation goals included the reduction of VMT and reduction of emissions for the remaining VMT. Co-benefits of VMT reduction were reduction of air pollution, congestion, and health benefits of active transportation. Shared vehicles, loaner bikes, e-bikes, and rental programs can help expand the program. The scope of the E-Mobility Strategic Roadmap extended into other plans and programs including hydrogen transportation, electric grid planning, and the Bicycle and Pedestrian Transportation Plan. The focus of the Roadmap was to promote e-mobility for emissions reduction and to ensure adequate infrastructure for e-mobility vehicles. Using e- mobility solutions and infrastructure enhanced planned active transportation and public transit. Electric grid solutions will be integrated into e-mobility programs. This effort will guide the development of the 2026-2027 Work Plan. There were 5 strategies, with 3 overarching ones that included promotion, infrastructure, and coordination with related plans. Next steps: 6/13/25, committee recommendation; August, City Council acceptance of the E- Mobility Strategic Roadmap; fall 2025, align existing programs with the Roadmap, align proposals for new programs, review the Roadmap with any other relevant stakeholders, and integrate work items aligned with Roadmap into proposed S/CAP 2026-2027 Work Plan. Item 3 Public Comment: David C. stated that since this is a bike-friendly city, encouraging bike use should be a part of every advertised event. This mode of transportation does not require infrastructure. Councilmember Lu agreed the plan made sense. The emphasis on micromobility was great. There were safety considerations, including how explicitly streets acknowledge e-mobility and the unique risks of e-mobility. The quietness of electric vehicles and e-bikes may have a blind spot. The streets need to be looked at with an e-mobility lens. If this was an emergent safety SUMMARY MINUTES Page 7 of 9 Climate Action & Sustainability Committee Meeting Summary Minutes: 6/13/2025 issue, it was wondered if there was speculation on how this would inform any other parties 2 years from now. This was a broad set of projects or concepts with short and medium-term actions. Ria Lo, Chief Transportation Official, shared details of the Safety Action Plan, which was adopted last week. There was expressed concern regarding the weight of an EV. This will be explored. Director Abendschein mentioned the issue of overpowered e-bikes was being addressed in the plans. Director Abendschein stated this Roadmap was the beginning with more efforts to follow. If there were gaps, the 2026-2027 plan will be modified. There was a high-level vision in the longer term. Any areas of focus should be shared. Councilmember Burt asked about the feedback received from the S/CAP working group. The function of e-transit, electrified trains and busses, and mode shift to transit was facilitated by last-mile things such as e-bikes. Councilmember Burt wondered if this was in the redline. making the transit hubs stronger provides momentum. It helped to facilitate bus to train and train to bus. There was a sense of urgency with trying to reign in the excessive use of e- motorcycles that was creating safety hazards. The co-benefits should be highlighted throughout the community regarding safety, parking, less traffic, and air quality. There should be a greater focus on shared vehicle hubs, Zipcar rentals, and e-bike sharing. Charging rates were then discussed mentioning a $0.40 per kWh. This would be a bit above PG&E rates for charging at home. The City chargers were $0.25 per kWh, which included maintenance charges. The installation cost was grant-based. There needed to be attractive pricing for charging. The lowest cost of electricity was when there was the greatest solar generation, and this was when commuters would be charging. Director Abendschein explained that people using electrified transit were within the scope of the Office of Transportation and Mobility efforts. The Roadmap referred to how to facilitate electrified transit. The focus of the transit hubs will be on all 3 and not just downtown, ensuring those were well connected with opportunities to switch to active transportation and micromobility. For weekend inbound commuters, it was important that the charging rates were attractive. There have been buildings measured for greenhouse gas reduction from VMT projects. It may not be able to be measured directly but it should not stop the measurement that is being done. Vice Mayor Veenker asked that the redline information be shared. Another point was on the scope of the Roadmap. There will be a lot of questions surrounding bicycle storage, batteries, and fires, so those items needed further explanation. Director Abendschein explained that the redline content of the Roadmap was presented for approval today. If this input was included, it must be incorporated into the motion. The redline backup slides were presented. Roadmap Strategy 4 concerned the use of e-bikes and e-scooters to enhance last-mile employer commuter programs. Action 3 added the use of e-mobility to SUMMARY MINUTES Page 8 of 9 Climate Action & Sustainability Committee Meeting Summary Minutes: 6/13/2025 enhance community VMT reduction efforts, with behavioral programs around e-mobility strategies with active transportation and public transit. Residents of Palo Alto were included but residents could not be added to the employee commute portion. Potential Strategy 2, Action 4, provided more explicit wording. Getting EV charging and infrastructure into all parts of the community and doing it cost effectively, trying to avoid transformer panels or other electrical upgrades. Solar storage was a big dimension to this. The group will need to take time to work through this. There will be an effort to make sure every heavy-duty charger installed will be well utilized. The first opportunity to test this will be in the next phase. Strategy 5, Action 1, rate design that facilitated employee daytime charging, could fall under the Strategy 2, Actions 2 and 4, and more explicit language can be added. The promotion of e-mobility to complement public transit was in Strategy 1, Action 2 but charging for transit was under Strategy 2, Action 3. There may be some benefit to adding public transit centers to the list. This is where it can ease the provision of electrical infrastructure for support chargers. Councilmember Lu emphasized the importance of spreading out the cost of the transformer for equitable distribution. Vice Mayor Veenker underscored safety. The staff report mentioned the promotion of e-bikes and e-scooters came after Safe Routes to School, so coordination with Safe Streets policies was important. Legislation was underway in Sacramento regarding e-bikes. E-bikes should be promoted in a safe way. There must be a needs assessment done to avoid overbuilding. Light EV chargers and robust EV chargers were of note. The public fast chargers seemed like a hybrid between light and robust. Strategically, adding public fast chargers made sense. Councilmember Burt spoke on pricing for commercial charging to incentivize within Palo Alto with preferred variable rates for lowest cost and greenest electricity. Strategy 1 needed to be explicit and clearer on the intent. Facilitating electrified air transit should be included. Air transportation should be referenced as a form of e-mobility and pursuing decarbonization related to electrified or other decarbonized air transportation. The program should include everything related to VMT and address all forms of electrified transportation opportunities. Director Abendschein queried how this should be captured in this document. There should be more of a tie-in with the Reliability and Resilency Strategy and the Airport Plan. If the Committee was interested, electrified air transit could be included under Strategy 2, Action 3 but it was noted it was outside the realm of VMT reduction and electrification. Charging and infrastructure for e-aviation had to be determined. The airport should be consulted on acceptable language. Vice Mayor Veenker asked for agreement, in terms of ground infrastructure, that the program will facilitate, promote, and support without acting as if the airways were within the control of this program. There was agreement with low-cost rates and daytime charging. Palo Alto’s charging cost was similar to home charging. It was emphasized that projects needed to be approached carefully to avoid underutilization. SUMMARY MINUTES Page 9 of 9 Climate Action & Sustainability Committee Meeting Summary Minutes: 6/13/2025 Councilmember Burt stated that $0.25 per kWh was a fraction of what was charged by privately owned commercial charging providers. The cost per kWh must include maintenance and replacement costs. The rates have to keep the program sustainable. Utilizing power when electricity was greenest and the lowest commodity cost should be the goal. The City received 2 forms of General Fund revenue. Additional revenue could be put back into this program. Director Eggleston had been approached by several companies developing eVTOL, electric vertical takeoff and landing. This was a new area of aviation, and the Palo Alto Airport was identified as an optimal spot for providing these services. There was hesitancy last year with the City Council on a long-range facility and sustainability plan for the airport. MOTION: Councilmember Burt moved, seconded by Vice Mayor Veenker, to recommend the City Council accept the E-Mobility Strategic Roadmap, as amended below: • Include Strategy 4 and Strategy 2 redline edits from backup slides of staff presentation. • Add residents to Strategy 4 Overview. • Review wording for Strategy 5, Action 1, for clarity and intent to promote public and workplace EV charging at advantageous rates where feasible. • Add transit and mobility hubs and e-aviation facilities to Strategy 2, Action 3. MOTION PASSED: 3-0 Future Meetings and Agendas Director Eggleston announced the next meeting would be August 22. The topics will include 2026-2027 Sustainability Work Plan items, the Multifamily EV Charging Program, and Reliability and Resiliency Strategic Plan. Vice Mayor Veenker stated the Youth Climate Summit will take place on August 9. Adjournment: The meeting was adjourned at 3:51 P.M.