AGENDA
ENERGY & GREEN ISSUES STANDING COMMITTEE MEETING
Goleta City Hall
130 Cremona Drive, Suite B
Goleta, California
Wednesday, March 4, 2026
12:00 - 1:30 PM
Conference Room # 1
Luz Reyes-Martín, Councilmember
James Kyriaco, Councilmember
Robert Nisbet, City Manager
Peter Imhof, Planning and Environmental Review Director Dana Murray, Sustainability Manager
Angeline Foshay, Sustainability Analyst
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-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- AGENDA
I. Public Comment
II. City Facilities Update – Solar & EV Chargers Performance III. Climate Adaptation & Sea Level Rise Planning Grant IV. Local Government Climate Alliance
V. Heat Pump Permit Fee Waiver Program
VI. Future Topics
Note: In compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act, if you need assistance to participate in this meeting, (including assisted listening devices), please contact Deborah Lopez, City Clerk, at (805) 961-7505 at least 72 hours prior to the meeting. Notification helps to ensure that reasonable arrangements can be made to provide accessibility to the meeting.
DATE: February 25, 2026
TO: Energy & Green Issues Standing Committee
FROM: Peter Imhof, Planning and Environmental Review
Director
CONTACT: Dana Murray, Sustainability Manager
Angeline Foshay, Management Analyst
Jason Scott-Sheets, CivicSpark Fellow
SUBJECT: Background Information for the March 4, 2026 Energy & Green Issues Standing Committee (“Green Committee”) Meeting (please see attached agenda)
ITEM I: PUBLIC COMMENT
ITEM II: CITY FACILITIES UPDATES – SOLAR & EV CHARGING PERFORMANCE Background:
The purpose of this item is to review the performance of the City Hall solar installation, Monarch 1, the City Hall EV Charging Project, and provide an update on the Sustainability team’s support for the Goleta Train Depot Project.
Discussion:
Monarch 1 Solar Array Performance – Year 3
In December 2020, City Council authorized a letter of intent to proceed with an agreement for a solar photovoltaic (PV) project on its recently acquired City Hall building, consistent with the adopted Strategic Energy Plan and 100% Renewable Electricity Goal. On October 19, 2021, City Council approved the agreements to proceed with the solar PV project. On August 25, 2022, the solar PV system, Monarch 1 Solar Array, was installed at City Hall. It was expected to produce approximately 313,721 kilowatt-hours (kWh) of electricity in the first year of production with a 0.5% degradation rate for subsequent years.
Staff worked with Optony to review the performance of the system for the third year of operation. Below are the highlights from the City of Goleta City Hall Solar PV Year 3 Summary (Attachment 1):
• In Year 3 of operation, the solar PV system generated 306,055 kWh. Monarch produced 98.5% of expected kWh.
• Compared to generation costs from Central Coast Community Energy (3CE) and delivery services from Southern California Edison (SCE), the City has saved $19,142 in Year 3 of operation.
• About 59.5 metric tons of CO2 emissions have been avoided by generating electricity onsite. This is equivalent to avoiding burning 66,093 pounds of coal, removing 14 gasoline-powered vehicles from the road for one year, or the carbon
sequestered by 984 tree seedlings grown for 10 years (EPA GHG Equivalencies Calculator).
City Hall Electric Vehicle (EV) Charging Project
California Governor Newsom issued an executive order in September 2020, which requires the sale of all new passenger vehicles to be zero-emission (ZEVs) by 2035. State agencies and local governments have been taking policy steps to support this goal by adopting policies to facilitate the use of EVs among communities. The City of Goleta had already adopted an Electric Vehicle Charging Station Permit Streamlining Ordinance in April 2020. The City took further action by making Electrical Vehicle Readiness Planning a priority in the adopted Planning & Environmental Review Department’s Annual Work Program for fiscal year 2022/23. On December 6, 2022, the City Council voted to approve the City’s participation in Southern California Edison’s (SCE) Charge Ready Program and establish an EV charging site at City Hall.
The City completed its publicly available City Hall EV charger project in December 2024 and held a ribbon-cutting ceremony on January 23, 2025. Funding provided by SCE’s Charge Ready Infrastructure and Rebate Program accounted for an estimated $250,000 of work to establish and install the EV charger infrastructure. A $22,000 Clean Air Grant from the Santa Barbara County Air Pollution Control District (APCD) and an $11,000 Charge Your Fleet program rebate from 3CE covered the final portion of the project, effectively zeroing out the cost of the project to the City. The stations include 17 Level 2 EV chargers managed by PowerFlex, which are equipped with 208-volt to 240-volt plugs capable of adding 20 to 60 miles per hour of charging. The stations also include two ADA accessible spaces, one van-sized and one standard-sized.
Here are some key findings from the City of Goleta City Hall EV Chargers Inaugural Report (Attachment 2):
• In the first year of operation, 3,302 EV charging sessions were completed at the City Hall EV chargers, representing the time between plugging a vehicle into a station and unplugging it. The number of sessions completed at the site each month grew by an average of 32 sessions per month throughout the year. These sessions represent 15,305 hours of vehicles occupying stations. • The number of charging sessions completed by members of the public increased the most compared to other user groups. From 65 sessions completed by the public during the first full operational month in February 2025, the number of public sessions peaked at 390 in October 2025, an increase of 500%. • 10,144.5 session hours (66%) were spent actively charging, while 5,160.4 hours (34%) were spent in idle session, the time between a vehicle completing its charge and being unplugged from the station. The average duration of a session was 235.2 minutes.
• The site’s max occupancy was 12/17 stations in use on a single day (70% utilization), and the daily maximum level of utilization did not reach the benchmark for “congestion” status of 80%.
• There were only two days during the year in which more than one EV charger was in an inoperable state requiring maintenance attention. • EV charging generated $13,891.46 in collected revenue. Monthly revenue grew overall throughout the year at an average rate of $163.40 per month.
• The EV chargers delivered 57,460 kWh of energy in total at a daily average of 167.5 kWh. The average session delivered 4.24 kWh to vehicles. The most commonly occurring hour during which the chargers reached their maximum energy output was between 9:00-10:00 AM (60 days), followed by 11:00 AM-12:00 PM (54 days) and 1:00-2:00 PM (38 days).
• The energy provided by the EV chargers in their first year has replaced an equivalent of 4,582.2 gallons of gasoline. This energy provided a total of 102,316 electric miles and resulted in 89,774.6 lbs. of avoided greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, represented as CO2 equivalents.
Goleta Train Depot Project
As the construction of the Goleta Train Depot Project passed the milestone of “topping off” the structural framing in September 2025, Sustainability has been looped into the final phase of project construction to advise on the installation of 13 planned EV charging stations onsite (1 van-accessible EV space, 1 standard ADA EV space, and 11 standard EV spaces). Next steps for the team include looking into grant and rebate opportunities for the EV chargers at the site as construction advances and is completed, including the Santa Barbara County Air Pollution Control District’s (APCD) Clean Air Infrastructure Grant and Central Coast Community Energy’s (3CE) Charge Your Fleet rebate program.
Staff anticipates APCD grants ranging from $10,000 to $250,000 when the application period opens this summer, in addition to potential funding from 3CE at up to $5,000 per Level 2 EV port. Staff has previously secured funds from both of these sources to entirely offset the cost of the City Hall EV Charging Project to the City.
Sustainability staff has been collaborating with General Services on EV infrastructure planning and tasked with analyzing best practices for EV charging operations at the site, including setting appropriate EV charging rates to generate revenue or cover the costs of EV charging. As the project nears completion and usage of the EV charging stations begins, staff will monitor the utilization rates and the revenue generated by the charging stations, as well as address any of the EV charger maintenance issues that may arise during operation of the Goleta Train Depot.
Additionally, as with the monitoring of the Monarch 1 solar installation at City Hall, Sustainability staff will evaluate the energy production of the Goleta Train Depot’s Tesla solar roof tiles. As the energy usage of the building becomes clear over time, Sustainability will track the usage and performance of the solar system and compare it to the building’s energy usage.
ITEM III. CLIMATE ADAPTATION & SEA LEVEL RISE GRANT OPPORTUNITY Background:
In 2021, Governor Newsom signed Senate Bill 1 (SB 1) into law. SB 1 directs the state to provide funding to local and regional governments to develop sea level rise (SLR) adaptation plans and implementation projects. California Ocean Protection Council’s (OPC) SB 1 SLR Adaptation Grant Program (SB 1 Grant Program) aims to provide funding for coastal communities to develop consistent SLR adaptation plans and projects to build resilience to SLR along the entire coast of California and San Francisco Bay. The
SB 1 Grant Program is part of California Climate Investments, a statewide initiative that puts billions of Cap-and-Invest, formerly known as Cap-and-Trade, dollars to work reducing greenhouse gas emissions, strengthening the economy, and improving public health and the environment — particularly in disadvantaged communities. The SB 1 Grant Program is also supported by Proposition 4 (the Safe Drinking Water, Wildfire Prevention, Drought Preparedness, and Clean Air Bond Act of 2024).
The City of Goleta is preparing a grant proposal for SB 1 funding for a multi-phase project to develop Climate Ready Goleta: SLR Vulnerability Analysis & SLR Adaptation Plan.
Through this grant, the City proposes to (1) develop an SLR Vulnerability Analysis (VA) to identify compound hazards, building upon previous reports such as the City’s 2015 Coastal Hazards Vulnerability Assessment and Fiscal Impact Report and using best available science, as outlined in the 2024 State of CA SLR Guidance document; (2) develop a long-term SLR Adaptation Plan (AP) with phased adaptation pathways up to 2100 with clear timelines, thresholds, and triggers to ensure long-term coastal resilience in the face of SLR and compounding coastal hazards; and (3) include meaningful and diverse community engagement throughout the planning process, including targeted outreach with Goleta’s SB 535 designated disadvantaged community and local tribes.
Although out of the scope of this project, Climate Ready Goleta will inform a future Local Coastal Program (LCP) amendment that will bring the jurisdiction into SB 272 compliance.
This initiative will increase the City’s preparedness for climate change and compounding coastal events, such as SLR, high tides, storm surges, precipitation, groundwater inundation, and coastal erosion.
The project will align with the OPC’s Strategic Plan Objective 1.1: Build Resilience to Sea Level Rise, Coastal Storms, Erosion, and Flooding, and Objective 2.2: Enhance Engagement in Underserved Communities. The grant proposal preparation and proposed project also align with the City of Goleta’s Strategic Goals, Initiatives, and Objectives to:
1. Support Environmental Vitality
1.1.4. Continue to work with the Santa Barbara County Regional Climate Collaborative to share resources to address climate change
1.1.5. Continue implementation of the City’s Climate Action Plan
1.1.6. Update policies to address sea level rise
1.2 Adopt best practices in sustainability
2. Support Community Vitality and Enhanced Recreational Opportunities
2.2. Support programs that enhance quality of life in the Goleta community such as recreation, public safety, human services, and cultural arts
3. Ensure Financial Stability
3.2. Enhance revenue by seeking grants and implementing financing strategies that strengthen the City’s budget
9. Ensure Equity, Inclusion, and Access in City Programs, Services, and Activities
9.3. Strengthen public outreach, promote public engagement in the civic process, increase attendance at City and community events, and improve awareness of and access to City services for all City residents, including underrepresented groups
9.3.1. Consider additional opportunities for public engagement in City activities Discussion:
The City is developing a grant proposal to seek $500,000-$600,000 in grant funding to assess coastal vulnerability to SLR and compound hazards and develop potential adaptation pathways to mitigate the effects of SLR on critical infrastructure, sensitive ecosystems, and historically underserved communities. As a coastal city in Santa Barbara County, the City of Goleta includes both a natural coastline as well as coastal development including Ellwood Mesa and Monarch Butterfly Habitat, a large coastal resort, sand dunes, a golf course along the shore, coastal trails, oil and gas facilities, rocky beaches and intertidal areas, residential development, sandy beaches, commercial and industrial areas, estuaries, and creeks. The City’s SLR risks include coastal and creek flooding and coastal erosion that may threaten coastal developments, such as the Ritz-Carlton Bacara resort, some neighborhoods in the coastal zone, and other infrastructure, such as public coastal trails, especially when compounded with intense storms.
The goals of this project are to:
1. Educate Goleta residents about the potential impacts of future SLR and related hazards;
2. Develop community-informed strategies for long-term adaptation; and
3. Help the City be more prepared for climate change, especially during a confluence of events, such as SLR, extreme high tides, storm surges, heavy precipitation, groundwater inundation, and coastal erosion.
Tasks of the project will include at least four stakeholder workshops and a coast walk and talk event focused on SLR science and impacts, vulnerabilities in the community, and adaptation options; deliverables will include drafts and final SLR VA, drafts and final SLR AP, and a Community Engagement Plan.
The SLR VA will assess the vulnerability of Goleta’s coastal resources and assets, including their exposure, sensitivity, and adaptive capacity to SLR. This VA will be used to identify priority areas for adaptation pathways development. The SLR VA will utilize best available science, in line with the 2024 State of CA SLR Guidance, using the most up-to-date SLR scenarios and exploring compound flood hazards (wave run-up, groundwater inundation, storms, bluff erosion, precipitation, etc.). All core sectors outlined in the SB 1 SLR Adaptation Criteria will be assessed.
The City’s SLR AP will identify adaptation measures and strategies to minimize risks to coastal resources, infrastructure, and development from SLR and coastal hazards. With community input, the AP will evaluate and prioritize a list of adaptation strategies based on the VA, which will be narrowed down to form the basis of developing phased and actionable adaptation pathways. These pathways will serve as the road map for the jurisdiction’s future SLR adaptation efforts and implementation, with clearly defined triggers and thresholds to inform when adaptation steps should be implemented. In collaboration with UC Santa Cruz’s Center for Coastal Climate Resilience and USC Sea Grant, the City of Goleta could be a pilot CoSMoS Adapt community, a new initiative to advance the USGS’s Coastal Storm Modeling System (CoSMoS) to create the first toolkit for quantitative evaluation of the cost-effectiveness of coastal adaptation options in CA, including nature-based solutions in support of management and policy decision-making.
The SLR AP will seek to prioritize nature-based solutions whenever possible, including strategies that prioritize green infrastructure solutions and integrate climate risk reduction with emissions reductions where possible.
This project will include robust community engagement with a diverse range of stakeholders, such as local tribes, coastal landowners, environmental non-profits, chambers of commerce, and community members. The project will develop a Community Engagement Plan which will outline the engagement strategy to inform the development of the VA and AP. Public outreach will include in-person and virtual workshops, a coastline walk and talk event, and community surveys. Special effort will be made to ensure that disadvantaged communities, including English as a Second Language (ESL) and community members living in Old Town Goleta (state-designated disadvantaged community), have equitable opportunities to engage with the planning process.
Recommendation:
Receive information on OPC SB 1 grant and the City’s draft grant proposal, and recommend staff bring the grant contract to City Council for approval, if funded by OPC.
Next Steps/Estimated Timelines:
March 20, 2026 – Full grant proposal due to OPC
June 16, 2026 – Earliest OPC meeting date Goleta’s grant proposal could be approved by OPC for funding
Should the City of Goleta’s grant proposal be selected and approved for grant funding, staff will bring the grant acceptance/contract to City Council for approval, anticipated in August 2026. The grant period is two years after the contract is executed with OPC, with the grant period likely from about 9/2026-8/2028. At the conclusion of the grant, staff will bring the final documents (SLR Vulnerability Analysis & SLR Adaptation Plan) to City Council for adoption. Staff also anticipates bringing the SLR Vulnerability Analysis to the Green Committee and, later, the City Council, as a study session midway through the grant.
ITEM IV. INTRODUCTION TO THE LOCAL GOVERNMENT CLIMATE ALLIANCE &
DISCUSSION OF CITY PARTICIPATION
Background:
Staff at the City of Goleta actively participate in many organizations across California and the United States to advance the City’s goals in sustainability, decarbonization and GHG emissions reductions. Organizations, such as the Urban Sustainability Directors Network, Green Cities California, and the Local Government Sustainable Energy Coalition, all provide a basis for networking and sharing best practices and resources across jurisdictions, ensuring that the City is up to date on the latest policies, programs and grant opportunities. As the implementation of GHG emissions reduction policies has progressed, it has become increasingly clear that many barriers to local climate action, such as utility regulation, incentive structures, and state policy design, are shaped at the state level. As with the recent state policies blocking the development of new residential Reach Codes, well-intended state policy can at times have a profound effect on local governments’ abilities to effectively meet the climate targets set by the state.
To address the collective challenges climate-focused local governments face when working to enact policy, the Local Government Climate Alliance (LGCA) formed to unite California cities and counties to advocate for bold, equitable climate policies with a coordinated, credible voice to influence policy decisions far more effectively and efficiently than acting alone. This effort is led by some of our most prominent neighbors, including the City of Santa Barbara and the City of San Luis Obispo, and, if our City formally joins, the City of Goleta would be among the core members having influenced the organization’s focus and formation.
Discussion:
The LGCA is a practical and cost-saving alliance working to shape state legislation that directly affects local budgets, utility costs, and residents’ costs and quality of living. LGCA would not replace our City’s general lobbyist but provides complementary and targeted advocacy on climate and energy priorities. LGCA membership has collectively developed a set of guiding policy principles for the group, which are that the Alliance will:
• Advocate for legislation expanding city/county authority for local climate action and securing funding.
• Advocate for laws and regulatory measures that accelerate affordable access to clean electricity, electrified transportation, zero-emission buildings, and low-carbon industry.
• Promote legislation that invests in wildfire prevention, water security, coastal resilience, habitat restoration, and urban greening - using nature-based resilience approaches wherever possible.
• Support legislative packages that ensure retraining, wage protection, and community reinvestment during the phase-out of fossil fuels. • Support climate bills that also improve housing affordability, air quality, public transit access, public health and safety, and local economic development.
Additionally, LGCA has centered its near-term advocacy around energy affordability, the cornerstone to realizing the City of Goleta’s GHG emissions reduction and equity goals.
The LGCA focuses on advancing legislative advocacy activities that:
• Expand local authority and secure funding for local climate action; • Accelerate affordable access to clean electricity, electrified transportation, zeroemission buildings, and low‑carbon industry; • Remove barriers to local clean energy and climate strategies; • Support worker retraining, wage protection, and community reinvestment during the transition away from fossil fuels;
• Invest in wildfire prevention, water security, coastal resilience, habitat restoration, and urban greening using nature‑based approaches where possible; and • Advance climate policies that also improve housing affordability, air quality, public transit access, public health and safety, and local economic development.
The Alliance will help Goleta spend less, advocate more effectively, and protect our community, starting with keeping energy affordable for both our organization and the people we serve.
The City of Santa Barbara Sustainability and Resilience Department is coordinating and administering the lobbying contract with the LGCA lobbying firm, the Deveau Burr Group.
The annual cost of the contract is $61,000 and member cities are paying the City of Santa Barbara directly for their portion of the annual membership dues.
Next Steps/Estimated Timelines:
Staff has budgeted $1,500 in membership dues for joining the LGCA in the upcoming mid-year budget process and will continue to participate in the formation of the organization’s policies and priorities. The LGCA will be kicking off regular meetings starting in March and is currently developing an external-facing website.
ITEM V. HEAT PUMP PERMIT FEE WAIVER PROGRAM
Background:
The passage of California Senate Bill 32 in 2016 established the goal to reduce GHG emissions statewide to 40% below 1990 levels by 2030, and further to 80% below 1990 levels by 2050. One of the keys to achieving these goals lies in taking significant steps to decarbonize the state’s building sector through electrification of buildings and appliances.
A study of 2020 data by Central Coast Community Energy (3CE) determined that usage of both natural gas and electrical energy contributed 40.4% of total emissions in the community, with natural gas, specifically, further accounting for 40% of that total. The California Energy Commission’s 2025 Energy Code began requiring electric heat pump devices for single family, multifamily, and other select non-residential building categories as of January 1, 2026. The California Air Resources Board (CARB) is also preparing new requirements for zero-emission appliances as replacements for existing water and space heating systems. In advance of these upcoming regulations, staff presented information about permit fee waiver programs for electric heat pumps to the Green Committee in January 2024. The Committee gave a recommendation for staff to create a pilot program waiving permit fees for heat pump projects.
On June 3, 2025, staff presented to City Council the program “Existing Building Electrification: Develop & Implement Heat Pump Permit Fee Waiver Program,” where City Council voted to unanimously approve a permit fee waiver program with an estimated cost of $10,000 for the first year. The initiative would waive the fees for permits to install electric heat pumps at time-of-replacement in residential buildings during a pilot program phase starting in fiscal year 25/26, as an method to incentivize building electrification and as a supplement to electrification rebates and incentives offered by organizations such as the Tri-Country Regional Energy Network (3C-REN) and 3CE. Specifically, both plumbing and electrical permit fees are eligible to be waived, based on the context and extent of the project. Staff anticipated working to update the City’s permit tracking processes to allow for specific kinds of replacement to be indicated and verified, so that the appropriate fees could be waived and tracked. In order to address the percentage of permit fees being forfeited, which normally would go to the City’s Building & Safety permit contractor Willdan, Council approved $10,000 for one year from the General Fund to account for both anticipated project fees, including potential growth in permit applications to leverage the incentive opportunity. Since then, Sustainability staff has been working with Planning & Building staff to update the permit tracking software, which took some time, to specify heat pump permits for fee waivers.
Discussion:
The heat pump permit fee waiver program is an incentive policy which requires public participation to implement and achieve program goals of increasing building decarbonization and reducing GHG emissions generated by home energy and appliance use. A public engagement campaign to communicate to relevant audiences the nature of the opportunity and how it can benefit them is important to maximize program impact and utilization. Contractors, including plumbers, electricians, and HVAC specialists, are the primary stakeholders involved in conducting building electrification projects and pulling relevant permits, positioning contractors as the main audience to engage. There is also importance in communicating directly with residents and property owners, to build public knowledge and support for building decarbonization principles and potentially motivate property owners to undertake electrification projects through their initiative.
Staff have participated in informational sessions led by decarbonization experts and contractors advocating for electrification to become better versed in how to reach these audiences and speak effectively to contractors to encourage their participation.
Contractors with prior experience performing electrification projects within Goleta are being identified to organize a direct outreach campaign sharing with them that this tool is available and encouraging participation.
Staff has been actively communicating with several locally operating organizations which offer additional electrification rebates and incentives and which more commonly work directly with contractors. Staff has identified several opportunities for collaboration to highlight the heat pump permit fee waiver program:
• “Contractor Power Hour” event – the City is collaborating with 3C-REN on organizing an event “on March 20, 2026 as an opportunity for contractors in the Santa Barbara area to network with manufacturers, incentive providers, and local governments to learn about the latest products and incentives available. Staff are actively engaged in organizing the event alongside staff from 3C-REN, City of Santa Barbara, and County of Santa Barbara.
• Heat pump and electrification webinar workshop with 3CE and 3C-REN – target audience is the broader Goleta community where experts will present the benefits of electrification, and highlight opportunities to reduce costs for implementation including the City’s heat pump permit fee waiver program and additional rebates and incentives for heat pumps offered by partnering organizations. Representatives from 3CE and 3C-REN will co-host and participate as technical experts. The City will issue a press release highlighting the workshop and program with participating partners, and 3CE and 3C-REN will promote the program and event through their social media and newsletter channels. Planning is in progress, date TBD.
• Communications (Newsletter articles, flyers, social media) - Staff will publish an article in the March 2026 Monarch Press highlighting the upcoming public workshop, promoting the availability of the program, including information about the benefits of home electrification, and sharing additional external incentives available that the permit fee waiver program can be leveraged with. Physical flyers
at the permit counter and social media will also be utilized to promote the program and workshop.
• Other Collaboration –
o 3CE will include Goleta’s heat pump permit fee waiver program on their website in the Other Resources section for electrification in the region. 3CE may include the program in future webinars for contractor, customer, and resident audiences.
o 3C-REN will include Goleta’s heat pump permit fee waiver program information in its various outreach channels, including 3C-REN’s primary newsletter, the Resilient Central Coast/Climate Resilient Santa Barbara newsletter, and the County’s Sustainability division newsletter. o 3C-REN intends to hold a resident-facing educational webinar about electrification and decarbonization later this year. Staff are preparing to work with 3C-REN to collaborate on that event in the near future and may take an active participatory role in the programming to highlight the heat pump permit fee waiver program and communicate to a residential audience.
o Community Environmental Council (CEC) will include information about the heat pump permit fee waiver incentive in their Electrify Your Life program, a tool for helping interested parties switch to green tech and energy efficient tools by connecting them with available local incentives. Staff are preparing informational materials to provide for incorporation into their platform. CEC is also interested in promoting the City’s planned webinar workshop through their media channels and will update staff on upcoming events where there may be an opportunity to participate and engage with the public. • First California Heat Pump Week - the Building Decarbonization Coalition (BDC) and the California Heat Pump Partnership recently announced the first California Heat Pump Week, occurring April 11-19, 2026. It is a statewide activation program during which a network of partners will host a series of activities including community events and workforce activations, supported by coordinated media campaigns. Staff are acquiring more details about requirements and processes as they become available and are discussing potential interest in jurisdictional coordination with City and County of Santa Barbara staff.
The Central Coast region features several major organizations active in the decarbonization policy space who have the experience and resources to effectively connect with and activate contractors to pursue electrification projects. The City’s heat pump permit fee waiver program is intended to supplement the significant incentives these organizations have established and further remove barriers to clean technology adoption. Working in collaboration with these local partners is an effective way to build relationships, engage the public in our policies, and generally support the region and state’s goals to mitigate emissions in the built environment.
Next Steps/Estimated Timelines:
Staff will publish an article covering the heat pump permit fee waiver program in the March edition of the Monarch Press. Coordination will proceed with representatives from 3CE and 3C-REN to plan programming and scheduling for the heat pump/electrification webinar workshop, aiming for an April date in 2026. Staff will continue working with 3CREN and the City and County of Santa Barbara to organize the Contractor Power Hour
event for March 20, 2026 and will explore options to participate in the California Heat Pump Week in mid-April.
ITEM VI. FUTURE TOPICS
Input from Committee on Topics of Interest: discussion and provide direction to staff regarding topics of interest relating to sustainability to be introduced to and explored by the Committee.
California | Colorado | New York PAGE | 1
TO: Matthew Fore and Dana Murray, City of Goleta
FROM: Jonathan Whelan and Amanda Craparotta, Optony Inc.
DATE: January 26, 2026
RE: City of Goleta City Hall Solar PV System – Year 3 Summary CITY OF GOLETA CITY HALL SOLAR PV SYSTEM – YEAR 3 SUMMARY Solar PV System Background and Expectations
On August 25, 2022, a 180 kW-AC / 208.3 kW-DC solar photovoltaic (PV) system was installed at City Hall, located at 130 Cremona Drive, Goleta, CA 93117, under a Power Purchase Agreement with the City of Goleta and Symbiont. This shade structure consists of three (3) 60 kW inverters that are expected to produce approximately 313,721 kWh in Year 1, with an estimated 0.5% degradation rate for subsequent years. The system is expected to produce approximately 310,592 in Year 3.
Solar PV System Operation and Production
According to AlsoEnergy PowerTrack, the monitoring software platform, the system produced 306,055 kWh in the third-year post-commissioning (August 25, 2024 – August 24, 2025), which means the system operated at 98.5% of expected. In Year 3, the City should have paid Symbiont approximately $44,678 for the purchase of 306,055 kWh generated by the system. The system qualified for the Investment Tax Credit (ITC), which has been reflected in the reduction of the Year 3 PPA Energy Rate from $0.1475 to $0.1450 per kWh produced. Under a Net Energy Metering Aggregation (NEMA) interconnection with the utility grid, the generating meter at Suite B received approximately 166,793 kWh, the upstairs meter received approximately 129,409 kWh, and the HM meter received approximately 9,853 kWh. Given the current utility energy charges for generation services through Central Coast Community Energy (3CE) and delivery services through Southern California Edison (SCE), the City has saved approximately $63,820 in utility bill energy charges during the third-year post-commissioning, with net savings (after deducting PPA charges) of $19,142.
Carbon Emissions Avoided
By utilizing the most current eGRID California subregion CO2 output emission rate of 428.5 lb/MWh1, the City has avoided emitting approximately 131,145 lbs. or 59.5 metric tons of CO2 by negating the delivery of 306,055 kWh from the grid in replacement with onsite renewable energy.
Conclusion
The City has achieved net savings, and Symbiont has satisfied its performance obligations for Contract Year 3. The 85% performance guarantee is evaluated over a two-year period; accordingly, Contract Years 3 and 4 will be reviewed on a combined basis. Performance results to date indicate that Contract Year 3 meets the applicable requirements. Contract Year 4 will conclude on August 24, 2026, at which time the City should review Year 4 performance to confirm that the 2-year performance guarantee has been met. 1 https://www.epa.gov/egrid/summary-data
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Any questions can be directed to Jonathan Whelan ([email protected]) and Amanda Craparotta ([email protected]).
System Expected
• Production: 310,592 kWh
• Operation: 100%
• PPA Rate: $0.1450 per kWh
• PV Energy Cost: $45,336
• Carbon Emission Reduction:
60.4 metric tons
• Utility Bill Energy Savings:
$64,765
• Net Savings: $19,429
System Actual
• Production: 306,055 kWh
• Operation: 98.5%
• PPA Rate: $0.1450 per kWh
• PV Energy Cost: $44,678
• Carbon Emission Reduction:
59.5 metric tons
• Utility Bill Energy Savings:
$63,820
• Net Savings: $19,142
1 To: City of Goleta Energy & Green Issues Committee
From: Dana Murray, Sustainability Manager & Jason Scott-Sheets, CivicSpark Fellow Date: March 4, 2026
Subject: City Hall EV Charging Site Inaugural Year Report (2025) City of Goleta City Hall EV Chargers—Inaugural Year Report (2025) EV Charging System Background & Objectives
Transportation has consistently been the largest source of emissions in the State of California, accounting for 136.9 million metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent (MMTCO2e) or 38% of the State’s overall emissions in 2023. In that year, transportation was also the largest source of emissions in Santa Barbara County, at 532,839 MMTCO2e or 48% of County emissions. California has taken several policy actions to mitigate the harmful emissions produced by the transportation sector, including incentivizing and enabling the use of electric vehicles (EV) and their supporting infrastructure. Governor Newsom signed an executive order in September 2020 that requires sales of all new passenger vehicles in California to be zero-emission vehicles (ZEV) by 2035, while directing state and local agencies to support deployment of affordable charging methods for communities, with an emphasis towards low-income and disadvantaged communities.
The City of Goleta began taking steps to accelerate EV charger installation in advance of this executive order. In April 2020, City Council adopted an EV Charging Station Permit Streamlining Ordinance. By 2022, the City’s budget priorities and Strategic Plan included investing in EV charging infrastructure, and EV readiness planning was a major priority of the Planning & Environmental Review (PER) Department’s Annual Work Program for fiscal year 2022/23. To realize its EV policy objectives, California set another goal to set up 250,000 EV chargers in support of 1.5 million EVs by 2025 with further systems planned to support 5 million EVs by 2030. The California Energy Commission (CEC) projected in 2022 that meeting the 2025 goal would require 972 Level 2 EV chargers in Santa Barbara County compared to the existing 328, and City staff began actively searching for funding opportunities to reduce the cost of establishing EV chargers at City facilities. City Council voted to approve the City Hall EV charging infrastructure project on December 6, 2022.
The City completed its City Hall EV charging project in December 2024 and held a ribbon cutting ceremony on January 23, 2025. The infrastructure work to establish the project was provided by Southern California Edison (SCE) and funded through SCE’s Charge Ready Infrastructure and Rebate Program at an estimated value of around $250,000. A $22,000 grant awarded to the City by the Santa Barbara Air Pollution Control District’s (APCD) Clean Air Infrastructure Program additionally offset the cost of the chargers themselves. The remaining cost of the project, approximately $11,000, was covered by Central Coast 2 Community’s (3CE) Charge Your Fleet rebate program, effectively zeroing out the cost of the project to the City.
The City Hall EV charging stations consist of 17 Level 2 PowerFlex chargers, which are equipped with 208-volt to 240-volt 40 amp plugs capable of delivering an average 7.6 kW of power and adding 14-35 miles per hour of charge. They are located along the south side of City Hall, and are available for use by the public, staff, and fleet vehicles. There are two ADA accessible EV charging spaces, one van-sized and one standard-sized. Users can access and use the charging stations through PowerFlex’s mobile app, which helps them locate available chargers, monitor their progress, and pre-set-up preferences for charging session parameters. Data available from PowerFlex through Axcess, its monitoring software platform, provides insights into the stations’ performance, usage trends, and impacts during the first year of EV charger operation: from January 23 – December 31, 2025.
EV Charger Usage
Figure 1: Completed EV charging sessions grew throughout 2025, peaking in October.
In the first year of operation, 3,302 EV charging sessions were completed at the City Hall EV chargers, representing the time between plugging a vehicle into a station and unplugging. The number of sessions completed at the site each month grew at an average of 32 sessions per month throughout the year. This may represent increasing usage as word and awareness spread about the availability of EV chargers at City Hall. It may also reflect a growing number of EV owners in the community. 258 of these completed sessions were classified as microsessions, defined as sessions which last for fewer than five minutes. 0 50
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3 Figure 2: Monthly charging sessions by the public grew quickest and most overall.
EV chargers are available for use by the public, City staff, and municipal fleet vehicles.
Limitations in identifying users within usage data make it difficult to fully determine trends between these three groups. An estimated 585 charging sessions were attributed to City staff users, while an estimated 135 were completed by municipal fleet vehicles, and 2,582 by users from the public. The growth of the latter group was noteworthy: from 65 sessions completed in February 2025—the first full month of operation—the number of monthly sessions completed by the public peaked at 390 in October 2025, an increase of 500%.
Vehicles that use EV chargers in the City’s fleet currently include plug-in hybrids (two 2022 Ford Escapes) and three EVs (2024 Chevrolet Silverado, 2025 Chevrolet Equinox, 2023 Chevrolet Bolt). Public user sessions trended upwards as the year progressed, as did fleet sessions, while City users began as the most common before dropping and then levelling off. This may be expected as the number of public users has higher inherent growth potential over time. The number of fleet sessions grew in part as the City added new EVs to its fleet during the year.
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4 Figure 3: One-third of charging time in 2025 was spent in an idling state.
The 3,302 complete sessions represent a total of 15,304.9 hours of vehicles connected to EV stations. Of those hours, 10,144.5 (66%) were spent actively charging, while 5,160.4 (34%) were spent in idle session, the time between a vehicle completing its charge and being unplugged from the station. As a note, the City does not charge an idling fee at the EV chargers. The average duration of a session was 235.2 minutes. Idle time can be problematic if it results in congested demand and disrupted service for users seeking to use the charging stations. The section addressing station performance below illustrates why idling time did not create this issue during this period.
Energy Usage
Figure 4: Monthly energy provided grew closely alongside monthly sessions. 66%
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5 In 3,302 completed sessions, the EV chargers delivered 57,460 kWh of energy. The average daily total of energy delivered during this time equaled 167.5 kWh. The average session delivered 4.24 kWh to vehicles. The increase in kWh per month tracks relatively closely with the growth in sessions completed per month. At points where energy provided decreased while completed sessions increased, this reflected a rising number of sessions but shorter charging duration for the sessions.
Figure 5: Max daily kWh delivered occurred most often outside peak hours.
The most commonly occurring hour during which the EV chargers reached their maximum energy output was between 9:00-10:00 AM (60 days), followed by 11:00 AM-12:00 PM (54 days) and 1:00-2:00 PM (38 days). These maximum output windows align with the periods when most charging sessions are started, as Figure 6 shows below. None of these time periods fall under “peak hours” as defined by electric utilities and the City’s higher priced charging time, a period from 4:00 PM – 9:00 PM. This may be a natural reflection of activity and demand, as most users visit the site earlier on for work or other daily activities, or it could indicate a general awareness of higher prices charged during peak hours service. 0 10
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6 Figure 6: The majority of sessions completed in 2025 were started outside of peak hours.
Environmental Impacts
Figure 7: Lbs. of GHGs avoided each month through 2025
kWh used by EVs at the EV chargers were calculated to replace an equivalent of 4,582 gallons of gasoline, providing a total of 102,316 electric miles (the number of miles a combustion vehicle would have driven replaced by EV travel) to user vehicles over 2025.
Replacing that amount of gasoline with electric miles resulted in 89,774.6 lbs. of greenhouse gases (GHGs) avoided, represented as CO2 equivalents. The amount of GHGs avoided grew throughout the year at an average rate of 987.85 lbs. per month. Based on standard calculations by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the City Hall EV chargers’ 36 130
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7 mitigated emissions were equivalent to avoiding burning 45,234 lbs. of coal; or recycling 14.4 tons of waste instead of sending it to a landfill; or GHG sequestration by 673 10-year-old tree seedlings.
The site’s environmental effect may even be greater than calculated due to trends in the most active hours for energy delivery at the EV chargers – morning and mid-day hours when the sun is usually shining, and renewable energy is more plentiful. Energy produced and delivered at these hours is more likely to be drawn from renewable energy sources such as solar. State-wide energy demand is greatest during peak hours (evening), and additional energy sources beyond renewables are often accessed to meet the demand. Delivering the highest levels of energy during the morning and afternoon reduces the potential for that energy to contribute to GHG emissions via electricity generation. GHG emissions avoided in this manner are not factored into the calculations for the EV stations’ environmental outcomes.
The City’s major objective in establishing its EV chargers at City Hall was to provide EV infrastructure to contribute to state and local efforts to encourage EV adoption and usage to reduce GHG emissions, primarily in the transportation sector. One option to improve future GHG emission mitigation outcomes is to consider and research options to install battery storage features connected to the solar system at City Hall. Capacity to store renewably generated energy to draw on during periods when such energy becomes scarce would further reduce the EV chargers’ indirect emissions through the use of non-renewable generated energy.
Financial Impacts
Figure 8: Collected revenue grew in close alignment with the growth in energy provided. $-
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8 The fees for charging at City Hall are collected by Powerflex and then remitted to the City.
During the first year of operation, the EV chargers generated $13,891.46 in collected revenue.
Revenue grew an average of $163.40 per month. In March 2023 City Council was presented with several options to decide on fee structure and rates for using the EV chargers. City Council adopted a time-of-use fee structure with differing user rates: $.40/kWh during “peak hours” (4:00 PM – 9:00 PM) and $.25/kWh during all other hours. A higher price for peak hours was recommended because general energy demand reaches its highest levels during that window, reaches the highest risk of being generated from polluting sources, and because electricity prices reach their highest levels during that time in the summer months.
Additionally, Council wanted to support workplace EV charging by charging a lower rate during normal working hours.
According to data from EVChargeScout and PowerFlex representatives, the average price for using EV chargers in the area of Goleta is currently about $.34/kWh. This puts the City’s current rate for non-peak hour charging below the local average. This comparison is most directly relevant given that most sessions at theCity Hall EV chargers occur during the lowercost time periods. The discrepancy between price points may be viewed as an opportunity to consider raising prices to boost collected revenue, or more indirectly as a justification to introduce an idling fee. Increasing prices to achieve greater parity with local competitors, however, may slow the growing usage of the City’s EV charging stations or cause an outright reduction in sessions completed on site. Furthermore, one motivation behind the initial pricing structure was the priority to serve all communities with affordable EV charging options, but specifically lower-income and disadvantaged communities. Adjusting pricing to local parity could damage that objective as one of the City’s major policy goals.
Municipal fleet vehicles are granted free charging access at all 17 stations. City staff were granted free usage initially per City Council direction in 2023, but this policy was rescinded over legal and financial concerns related to income taxation on March 6, 2025, and staff now pay the same rates as public users. Free charging sessions for City staff over the first few months of operation reached an estimated $589 foregone revenue from the site. After free charging was rescinded, staff use contributed an estimated $1,983.35 to collected revenue; however, staff use also declined.
It is difficult to determine that the revocation of free charging was the main cause behind City users’ reduction in sessions from March onward. Timing suggests a correlation, but there are other factors that may explain the trend.
EV Station Performance
9 Figure 9: All 17 charging stations were never in use at the same time on any day in 2025.
Although the usage of EV chargers increased over 2025, the demand for chargers never exceeded the number of available stations. Utilization percentage represents the number of hours stations at the site were actually in use over the total hours they could potentially be used. The site’s daily maximum utilization during the year peaked at 70% and did not reach the benchmark for “congestion” status of 80%. There has also never been a day during which all EV charger stations were in use at the same time. Figure 6 shows that maximum occupancy—the greatest number of charging stations in use at one time during a day—has never exceeded 12 stations. Despite 34% of hours spent in idling status, throughout the year there have always been at least five chargers open on every day, preventing service issues of congestion.
The number of microsessions at EV stations can potentially be indicative of service issues.
A microsession occurs when a user is connected in a session for five minutes or less. It is possible that a user may connect their vehicle without realizing they do not need to charge.
It could be, however, that a user connected and a technical issue from the EV charger interrupted their session. Certain parts of the EV charger stations which receive the most direct physical interaction, such as the plugs, may also develop minor hardware issues that could create unstable connections to vehicles and disrupted sessions. A deeper review of site data must be undertaken with PowerFlex to fully analyze potential connections between microsessions and software glitches. If the number of microsessions grows to become more prevalent, a specific inspection of station components may be advised as part of overall maintenance activities.
The City holds responsibility for the operation and maintenance of its EV charger stations for the duration of its engagement in the SCE Charge Ready program, as well as commitments to multi-year operation per APCD grant contracts. An EV charging station which experiences technical issues to the point where it becomes incapable of engaging sessions and requires 4 12
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10 maintenance is displayed and logged as Faulted. One station, Station 17, experienced service issues and was effectively Faulted during the end of 2025. Since then, Station 17 has been replaced and is now fully-functioning. Setting that station aside, there were only seven days in the year with a station in Faulted status, and only two days on which more than one charger was Faulted (2 chargers). Furthermore, the amount of time an EV charger would spend in Faulted status was consistently low, often being significantly less than one hour.
This minimized the duration of time during which it was unavailable for use. As a result, nearly all EV charger stations were constantly operational and not experiencing serious levels of disfunction.
Conclusion
The City of Goleta’s EV chargers at City Hall have contributed to the state and region’s goals of mitigating transportation emissions through expanded adoption of EVs and their infrastructure. Usage has continued to grow since the stations opened, notably among public users, reflecting growing general awareness and willingness to use them. The time vehicles spend in idle states at chargers is not insignificant; however, overall usage and availability of stations has prevented any serious issues of drivers waiting to use chargers. If the City chooses to consider implementing fees for idling, it may generate an initial boost in revenue, but that increase may fade if users adapt quickly, and there is not currently a pressure from congested usage to demand such a policy. The EV chargers’ measurable environmental impact is further enhanced by the amount of energy used outside of peak hours when it is more likely to be generated from renewable sources.