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1 S/CAP Priorities Workshop Summary
Overview
On December 13, 2025, Palo Alto hosted a Climate Action Priorities public workshop aimed at identifying the types of mechanisms that Council and the public is interested in using to advance the Sustainability and Climate Action Plan ( S/CAP) 80x30 goals related to climate action for the residential sector. This workshop was also held as part of a special public meeting of the Climate Action and Sustainability Committee (Committee). The three council members of the Committee (Vicki Veenker, Patrick Burt, and George Lu) and Commissioner Rachel Croft from the Utilities Advisory Commission attended the meeting, with an additional 20 members of the public in attendance. The public workshop was also designed to promote greater understanding of tradeoffs in financing and regulations to achieve the City’s 80x30 goals.
The workshop focused on an interactive tabletop game named “Decarb Quest.” This game asked participants to pick at random cards representing different resident types and characteristics, home types, and home triggers. From there, participants must decide the strategy or combination of strategies that would best promote electrification in each scenario.
Participants could also design additional strategy cards for scenarios in which they felt the suite of potential strategies was not sufficient.
The workshop followed the following agenda:
Introductions
Climate Action Priorities Presentation
Breakout Group Discussion
oBenefits and challenges of mandates and incentives
Evaluating Decarbonization Programs Presentation
Breakout Group Discussion
oDecarb Quest game on potential tools and approaches for electrification Public Comment
Closing Comments
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1 Wall Graphic Recording
Below is the wall graphic recording from the workshop that captured high-level takeaways from breakout group conversations.
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1 Mandates and Incentives Presentation and Discussion
Ahead of the first breakout group discussion on mandates and incentives, Jonathan Abendschein, Assistant Director of Climate Action, delivered a presentation on the S/CAP Electrification Funding Study, discussing the quantification of total benefits to the Palo Alto community over time from switching from gas to electric appliances and some initial considerations for utilizing incentives and mandates to accomplish electrification. Jonathan then took questions and comments from the Council Members present (full list of comments is listed under the detailed notes). Participants were then asked to discuss the benefits and drawbacks of utilizing incentives vs. mandates to accomplish 80% reduction in GHG emissions by 2030.
Summary of Participant Comments
Below are the takeaways from the breakout groups discussion:
There is a place for both mandates and incentives to reach 80x30 goals Storytelling and effective communication is essential to support mandates and incentives
oMandates need to be paired with communication training; if people believe that their contributions are important, more people are likely to follow suit oVoluntary incentives give people agency and encourage personal storytelling It is important to quantify health savings as part of the discussion about avoided costs from electrification
City should utilize mandates and include incentives as a stop gap measure oCity can set health and safety standards/ mandates that must be met, and then use incentives to get people to reach those standards
Incentives should focus on less affluent residents with higher need oCity must do incentives
oSome groups stated that incentives should be income qualified Programs that support incentives and mandates should be designed to reduce friction as much as possible for residents
Workforce needs to be involved in leading electrification efforts BluePoint Planning 12/22/25 4
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1 Detailed Comments
Below are additional notes from Council Members about the Decarbonization Strategies Presentation.
Council Member Pat Burt
Emphasize health and safety benefits of electric appliances oAppealing to community for support for programs based on climate impacts will capture chunk of community; more people spurred to action by health benefits oShould quantify economics of health benefits in study and feature these benefits to community
oSafety should be a priority element
EV trips likely account for greater share of trips than reflected in the EV ownership rate (of 16%)
oAround 50% of purchases are EVs
oMost people who purchase EVs use them more than their older car oTrends in equipment cost moving forward may decline
oWondered to what degree we are basing funding projections on current costs of electric appliances
Council Member George Lu
Can the funding study take into account a decrease in EV charging installation costs/ HPWH costs over time?
oIs there a scenario where we can count on some national technology curve How are offsets assessed to users?
oOffsets could be used more creatively as stick or carrot Vice Mayor Vicki Veenker
Consider savings from gas transition study from Air District Implementation of Air District rules could save 89 deaths annually and $890 mil per year BluePoint Planning 12/22/25 4
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1 Electrification Strategies, Discussion, Decarb Quest Game Before the second breakout group, which focused on electrification strategies, Jonathan delivered a presentation on considerations for electrification strategies, including financing options for incentives. This included considerations for how a Building Emissions Savings Ordinance (BESO) could operate, and an overview of financing cash flows for Electrification as a Service (EaaS) for Palo Alto residents. Jonathan then took questions from the Council Members present (full list of comments is listed under the detailed notes).
Participants then rearranged into different breakout groups and completed an interactive tabletop game, “Decarb Quest.” This game asks participants to pick at random cards representing different resident types and characteristics, home types, and triggers for electrification upgrades. From there, participants must decide the strategy or combination of strategies that would best promote electrification in each scenario. Participants fill out the game board, picking at random from the deck two resident characteristics, a home type card, and a trigger for what may be happening to that home type (e.g. selling house, wanted to remodel, etc.). Participants then score how well that suite of strategies will encourage the resident with that home type to electrify, using game pieces to score on a scale of 1-4. Strategies that score a 1 would mean that residents would not electrify, and 4 means they would certainly electrify.
Participants could also design additional strategy cards for scenarios in which they felt the suite of potential strategies was not sufficient.
Below are images of the blank board and cards that participants were given. The images of the filled out boards from the game are included below at the end of this summary.
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1 Decarb Quest Game Board
Decarb Quest resident characteristic, housing characteristic and housing trigger cards
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1 Summary of Participant Comments
Below are the takeaways from the breakout groups discussion:
Overall, the BESO and EaaS were popular strategies
oBESO and EaaS work well for more affluent, singly family (SF) households, especially those doing remodels or large projects
oMay need to increase cost for BESO-funded upgrades for buyers oTraditional financing and EaaS may work for those with affordability issue oCity could host investment fund to help support EaaS program Communication and storytelling must be part of BESO and EaaS programs oEmphasize that natural gas prices will rise and the City needs to protect residents’ health; by electrifying, the City will end up with lower, cheaper utility bills and improve residents’ health
oEmphasize that electrification increases home value
oPublicize existing programs more!
The renter segment is difficult to reach
oMandates would work better for renters; renters need to be empowered to reach landlords
oThere are some other residents and scenarios that are difficult to electrify (e.g. a young, financially constrained family who is selling their house; landlord with renters who are high energy users and have a broken appliance) Multifamily (MF) homes typically have access to a traditional financing qualification In some scenarios it may make more sense for buyers to complete/ pay for energy assessment as part of BESO; buyer would then be required to upgrade to code when doing a construction project
Require those selling their home to future proof it to become all-electric Implement the Watt Diet (strategic selection of electric products and load sharing among devices) to reduce the need for panel upgrades
oCity could price amp services differently, with higher watt panels costing more Technical assistance is a throughline for many electrification strategies Homeowners associations (HOAs) are a different scenario than rental apartments because there are so many hoops to jump through
oIncentives would not be the driver of upgrades
oEaaS may be a partial solution but there may still be a gap for HOAs City could pool electrification projects for more income-constrained residents Should be easier for residents to use electric vehicles (EVs), especially for MF properties oThey can be a battery for homes and support resilience oTime of use (TOU) rates could be mandated; they would support EV usage and make EVs more affordable
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1 Additional Strategies
Below is the full list additional strategies that participants brainstormed during the Decarb Quest game:
BESO without public reporting
For BESO, the seller can do the energy assessment but the buyer is required to upgrade (as opposed to the seller)
Progressive loans (particularly for financially constrained households) Building owner makes bulk electric appliance purchase at reduced upfront cost (for MF renters)
Building performance standard– each home has an environmental rating oMay not be public for homeowners
oBuilding performance standards (BPS) may work well for larger, MF properties, and would give these properties a timeline to electrify Pool electric project scopes for multiple homes
City fund for electrification as service to reduce costs to residents oSome funds would be invested and get returns, some given to EaaS oThis would help subsidize financially constrained residents EV charging in City lots adjacent to MF properties
Streetside charging
Portable induction cooktops
Use City investment funds so City can be full financer of EaaS (City already covers loans under GoGreen)
Education and communication around electrification benefits must underpin all strategies oLawn signs can promote emergency heat pump water heater (HPWH) replacements and GoGreen financing
Detailed Climate Action and Sustainability Committee Feedback Below are additional notes from Council Members about the Decarbonization Strategies Presentation.
Vice Mayor Vicki Veenker
Very interested in what has traction with residents
Strategies aren’t necessarily alternatives, but can be combined– what is interplay between the strategies?
Interested in understanding BESO ordinance
Sees potential for Electrification as a Service
Council Member Pat Burt
Under EaaS we have lender involvement; to what extent would that be friction point? How simple could that become?
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1 oPalo Alto has simplified permitting for solar
oJonathan: there is discussion regionally on lender friction Where does funding come from for existing electrification and energy efficiency (EE) efforts and what legal latitude can apply?
oJonathan: electric public benefits funding is collected for EE, income qualified programs, renewable energy, and research and development. City has used funds for some electrification programs and is in conversation on how to use this in defensible way and what the competing priorities are Council Member George Lu
Interested in both BESO and EaaS, lots of questions for both Interested in how we can reach MF apartments through sales of buildings and individual condos
EaaS is more uncertain and has more moving parts; there are lots of questions to consider
oWhat lenders exist out there?
oHow much risk is City taking on?
oWhat happens if homeowners want to get expensive appliances? What happens if homeowners get into financial trouble?
oMake process as simple as possible
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1 Game Board Result Images
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