HomeMy WebLinkAboutStaff Report 5398
CITY OF PALO ALTO OFFICE OF THE CITY CLERK
December 15, 2014
The Honorable City Council
Palo Alto, California
Colleagues Memo From Council Members Berman, Burt, and Klein
Regarding Climate Action Plan Implementation Strategy to Reduce Use
of Natural Gas and Gasoline Through “Fuel Switching” to Carbon-free
Electricity
Requested Action by Council:
Direct the City Manager to prepare a report to the Council, outlining (1)
prospective programs and incentives that would result in the use of electrical
devices to replace those using natural gas, (2) possible building code changes to
require, where feasible, the use of electrical appliances rather than natural gas
appliances in the construction and renovation of residential and commercial
buildings, (3) possible changes to utility rate structures that would not penalize
fuel switching, (4) evaluation of additional strategies to support adoption of
electric vehicles. The report should consider and take into account applicable
legal requirements, and identify potential legal, code or regulatory barriers that
would need to be changed to facilitate fuel-switching. The City Manager will
return to the Council by the first meeting in February with an initial report to
Council on the timeframe required to research and develop this report, and the
staff and related resources that will be necessary, as this initiative would be an
important component in the 2015 Work Plan.
Discussion:
Starting in 2013 Palo Alto is one of the first cities globally to provide 100 percent
carbon-neutral electricity to all of our utility customers and at rates 20% below
PG&E. This is an important accomplishment, but only addresses approximately
1/5 of the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions previously generated in the city.
However, our clean electricity resource provides an exceptional opportunity to be
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used as a clean energy foundation to reduce our other major GHG sources, in
support of the city’s Climate Action Plan.
The United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), in its
latest report, again emphasized the dire straits we’ll all be in if government at all
levels doesn’t take far more significant steps to achieve large reductions in the
generation of greenhouse gases.
Building on our carbon-free electricity resource, key next steps for Palo Alto are to
promote switching from appliances and other devices that presently use natural
gas to devices that are powered by our clean electricity, and to support the
adoption of electric vehicles and other fossil fuel-free transportation alternatives.
Natural gas enjoys good press, but is in fact only marginally better than coal, in
part due to the high amounts of “fugitive” emissions which are unintentional
releases of harmful non-combusted methane gas that are emitted into the
atmosphere during natural gas extraction and delivery processes. Our carbon-
neutral electricity is far better for the environment and we therefore believe that
Palo Alto should take a series of steps to promote change from gas use to use of
electricity. Additionally, we should pursue more steps to support adoption of
electric vehicles powered by clean electricity, replacing use of petroleum, our
largest source of greenhouse gases.
This is a bold and significant initiative and given its “game-changer” potential,
warrants a thoughtful assessment of the opportunities and constraints this
presents and a clear identification of the resources and time commitment to
develop the report. Council recognizes that staff must first return with that initial
report on timeline and resource requirements by early February, as a prerequisite
to the Council’s direction to proceed with the actual research and report being
requested.
This report has been reviewed by the City Manager and City Attorney and has
incorporated their comments.
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Department Head: Beth Minor, Acting City Clerk
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