From: Airitam, Derrick
To: Official Records - City Clerk
Cc: Lauren Siegel; Hall, Melanie
Subject: Environmental Advisory Commission (EAC) - Recommendations on Optimized Strategic Plan for Climate Resolution 9977 - Letter
Date: Monday, June 23, 2025 9:31:36 AM
Attachments: 2025-06-10 Final OSP Letter.pdf
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Good morning,
Please see this attached Memorandum drafted by Chair Siegel and the Environmental Advisory Commission.
It was vetted and approved by the Staff Representative of the EAC to be posted and accompany the 6/24/2025 MSC Agenda item 3 for the Council to review.
The letter
is urging Pasadena’s City Council to take immediate action on Climate Resolution 9977, through recommendations and measurable goals.
Please let me know if you have any questions or need any other information.
Thank you,
Derrick Airitam
Senior Office Assistant
City of Pasadena • Water & Power • Power Supply
150 S. Los Robles Ave #200 • Pasadena, CA 91101
(626) 744.6437
[email protected]
Memorandum
To: Pasadena City Council
From: Environmental Advisory Commission
Date: June 10, 2025
Re: Recommendations on Optimized Strategic Plan for Climate Resolution 9977
Executive Summary
After extensive review of available data from PWP, E3 and our research, we are convinced that these priorities will have the biggest impact on our ability to meet the Climate Resolution 9977. Although it was bold for Pasadena to adopt the Climate Resolution, we haven’t seen bold policy being introduced to meet that goal. After two years of energy modeling, it is time to act.
City Council approved four scenarios that were determined as pathways to reach the Climate Resolution 9977. The EAC is strongly recommending that the City Council take more decisive action than adopting 4 scenarios from 7. We need to set actionable goals with firm quantitative actions. The EAC is recommending that the City Council take decisive action now by setting actionable goals and directing PWP to implement the following four policies:
1 75 MW Municipal Solar by end of 2030
2 125 MW Municipal Storage at Glenarm and Storage Rebate 3 Demand Response for Large Commercial Customers
4 Building Performance Standards for Existing Buildings
Background
For the past two years, PWP has gone through two energy modeling exercises, one for the IRP with Sparks consultants, and now for the Optimized Strategic Plan (OSP) with E3. The Environmental Advisory Commission has participated by having a representative on both TAPs and regular updates from the consultants and PWP. At the conclusion of each energy modeling exercise, six to seven scenarios or portfolios were presented that would achieve the climate resolution. These scenarios were broken down into components such as external renewable and storage contracts, internal solar, short-term storage, long term storage, EV, and demand response. The EAC has researched other cities’ initiatives that have proven to be effective in reducing demand of energy, adopting renewable energy, and ensuring a reliable energy system for their citizens and businesses.
We recognize that the City of Pasadena has several constraints including Goodrich Station energy intake at 280 MW, switching to Advanced Metering by 2028, Grid Updates specifically the East to West Line, and Glenarm Power Plant as a reliable back up. We also think that having municipal solar and storage infrastructure, and demand response of large accounts improves the reliability of our grid, especially during extreme heat days when we exceed Goodrich availability. Performance Standards for Existing Buildings starts building decarbonization program which increases energy efficiency and reduces energy demand. These recommendations are just part of the OSP, that includes NEM rates, residential and commercial solar and storage, EV charging and energy efficiency programs.
Municipal Solar: We recommend for Council to set an annual goal for solar installation, and especially for municipal. Local solar at minimum is 66 MW by 2030 therefore 11 MW per year for five years to meet our goal. In the solar study from E3 they showed there is potential for solar installation of 60 MW on municipal parking lots and 10 MW on municipal buildings. The largest solar potential by far is commercial parking canopy at 230 MW, tapping into this asset is imperative in meeting our goal (see Attachment 1). The natural adoption of residential solar is projected to increase by 36 MW by 2030 or 4MW per year.
To achieve this Municipal solar goal, we advise starting at the Sunset Reservoir and the Yards to feed into the Municipal Fleet EV charging stations. Working with Public Works to achieve the Fleet Management Plan should be intertwined with the OSP by installing solar and storage at the Sunset Reservoir and the Yards.
Example: City of San Diego has implemented the Zero Emissions Municipal Buildings and Operation Policy (ZEMBOP)1 with a goal of zero emissions for buildings and fleet by 2035.
Example: Santa Monica City Yards Advanced Energy District incorporating solar, storage, EV Charging for Municipal Fleet.2
Secondly, we suggest prioritizing parking lots with EV units to build out our existing infrastructure with solar and storage into microgrids. Choosing parking lots with EV units will serve multiple benefits:
powering the EV stations with solar, providing shade while residents are powering their cars, providing resiliency on our system. Microgrids are proven ways to optimize storage power and enhance grid resilience during peak times, improves energy efficiency, and provides power to critical resources such as police and fire stations as well as cooling centers during extreme heat days3. Adopting an energy demand map of microgrids and critical resources is critical for climate resiliency and energy stabilization. Below is a list of each parking garage with the amount of EV units:
1. Victory Park 23 EV units
2. Hastings Village 20 EV units
3. Foothill Campus 16 EV units
4. Shopper's Lane 20 EV units
5. Pas Arroyo Parking 38 EV units
6. Del MAR Station 38 EV units
7. Marengo Charging 43 EV units
8. Glenarm 26 EV units
Example: San Diego Edison has linked microgrids of solar and storage to municipal critical resources to secure power for peak resilience4. (See Attachment 2 of Map of San Diego Microgrids) Example: Santa Monica: Adopt Energy Master Plan that breaks down energy demand by district or neighborhoods to determine microgrids, community solar or district energy systems based on energy demand of that district.
Municipal Storage: Battery Storage is a critical piece of the OSP to store the solar energy either produced from external sources or internal solar energy installations. This is used at two critical times.
City of Pasadena’s peak use is between 4 to10 pm when solar starts to become unavailable and during high demand days. Therefore, storage is critical to get through nighttime hours to power with renewable and when demand from Goodrich is greater than 280MW. The 25 MW storage facility at Glenarm was recently approved in the Capital Improvement Program budget. An additional 100 MW energy storage is proposed in the PWP budget. We ask that City Council commit to this proposal and commit to 125 MW of additional battery storage at Glenarm to optimize our grid, making it more resilient and reliable.
1 https://www.sandiego.gov/general-services/energy/muni-energy/mes 2 https://www.energy.ca.gov/sites/default/files/2021-06/CEC-500-2019-032.pdf 3 CEC-500-2018-022.pdf
4 https://www.sdge.com/sites/default/files/S2550013-EnergyStorageMap_FLY_Update.pdf
Storage Rebate for Commercial and Residential Customers: Secondly, we recommend City Council adopt a storage rebate for commercial and residential customers, shifting energy use during peak times to storage batteries is key in reducing demand on the grid, as well as capturing solar energy. It allows customers to use stored energy during peak times from 4 to 10pm, or shift energy use during peak days.
PWP proposed at storage rebate at the Municipal Services Committee meeting that would be $4,500 rebate per storage unit with up to two storage batteries per customer.
Demand Response: During peak times such as heat waves, when Pasadena exceeds amount of energy demand available from Goodrich, it is critical for large customers either shed or shift energy. E3 instructed that the large commercial customers would have the biggest impact in demand response. In Pasadena, the 50 largest accounts demand over 50% of Pasadena’s energy. In other words, asking for large customers to shed or shift energy demand during peak hours would be most effective in reducing overall energy use. Prioritizing installing advanced meters at large customers will have the least cost but biggest impact. We recommend that City Council advise PWP to set an actional goal of demand response for its large accounts and find new ways to educate and incentivize them to be active participants in flexible load programs.
Example: SMUD has goal to develop 165 MW of flexible load programs by 2030.
Performance Standards for Existing Buildings: We recommend mandatory building performance standards (BPS) for existing buildings to decarbonize buildings. Introduced by Chula Vista5, Santa Monica6 and recently passed by States of Washington, Colorado and Massachusetts, adopting these mandatory standards would be above the existing building code (See Attachment 3 for a nationwide map of current BPS). City Council would advise the PWP and Building Department to set mandatory standards by a certain year to decarbonize existing buildings of a certain size7.
Example: By adding the BPS for existing buildings, City of Santa Monica has a goal of reducing energy by 20% by 2030. Starting with buildings over 50,000 sf, this is aimed at large buildings reducing energy demand over a five-year period.
Example: Chula Vista adopted Mandatory Benchmarking and Conservation Requirements for Multifamily and Commercial buildings the exceeded a Gross Floor Area of 20,000 sq ft.
New Technology: We appreciate the difficulty of making energy investments in this climate of rapid change. Despite that we believe Council should act now and we believe that a municipal scale program will have the most impact. At the same time PWP should also be keeping an eye on developing new technologies that become commercially viable.
It is time to act now. It is imperative for the Council to set clear goals and directives to PWP. These recommendations are a start to a larger plan that includes residential solar and storage, commercial solar, EV charging, external contracts, and new technology. It is critical for Council to set a Municipal Solar annual goal and for PWP to start a municipal solar program, set Demand Response goal for large accounts, and implement Building Performance Standards for Existing Buildings. City of Pasadena needs to lead by example to meet the Climate Resolution 9977.
5 https://www.chulavistaca.gov/home/showpublisheddocument/22730/637571124879800000 6 santamonica.gov - Green Building Incentives and Installation Resources
Attachment 1
Attachment 2
Appendix 3