From: Wesley Reutimann
To: Gao, Beilei
Cc: Jones, Justin
Subject: Public Comment - Agenda Items 2 and 3 - Pasadena Municipal Services Committee Meeting Date: Tuesday, April 8, 2025 11:03:10 AM
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Thank you Committee Members, PWP staff, and the E3 consultants for your work and continued focus on transitioning Pasadena to a carbon-free energy future.
At this point in the study, it is abundantly clear that a major increase in rooftop solar must be a central component of our strategy. Local rooftop solar is not just beneficial - it is essential.
Local solar reduces demand on the grid, provides a reliable and clean energy source at a time when renewable energy is under political and economic pressure, strengthens our energy security especially given the long-term bottleneck at the Goodrich receiving station, and reduces the financial burden on PWP and its ratepayers by leveraging private investment for public good.
E3’s own update makes it clear: local solar must grow substantially for us to meet our
carbon-free electricity goal. That means proactive support from all levels: PWP, city staff, and our elected leaders. We need public education, streamlined permitting, and programs that encourage both private and public solar development.
After the Eaton Canyon fire, the urgency of local climate action could not be more evident.
We do not have the luxury of waiting for a perfect plan. We need to act now by setting a strong, specific goal for dramatically increasing local solar—on homes, on commercial rooftops, and through public solar installations that serve renters and multi-family housing.
Yet it appears that E3 is inflating the system cost by treating private investments in rooftop solar -- those beyond “naturally occurring” growth
-- as if they are fully funded by PWP. This
doesn’t reflect how rooftop solar actually works and may overstate the burden on ratepayers.
How is “Total System Cost” being calculated? Are private investments being shown as public costs?
E3's cost estimates also appear to be inconsistent with NREL’s 2024 data. For residential solar, E3 lists $140 to $180/MWh, while NREL shows $72 to $124 in our region. For commercial installations, NREL says $48 to $84, while E3 shows $100 to $122. Even for utility-scale solar, E3's numbers appear inflated. And there’s no cost shown for community solar, which NREL puts between $49 and $185. Where is E3 getting its cost data? Local solar must be a key part of our path forward. Please ensure that Pasadena proactively supports its growth over the next five years, a critical period in our journey to carbon-free energy.
Thank you for your time and consideration,
-Wes Reutimann
Pasadena 91103