^ Outlook
PWP Progress Report Review
From Mark Rutkowski
Date Tue 7/28/2026 2:48 PM
To Gordo, Victor <[email protected]>; Hawkesworth, Matthew <[email protected]>,· Bagneris, Michele <[email protected]>; Cole, Rick <[email protected]>,· Hampton, Tyron <[email protected]>; Jones, Justin <[email protected]>,· Masuda, Gene <[email protected]>; Rivas, Jessica <[email protected]>; Lyon, Jason <[email protected]>,· Madison, Steve <[email protected]>; PublicComment- AutoResponse <[email protected]>; DerBoghossian, Megheti <[email protected]>
Cc Cynthia Cannady ; Wesley Reutimann
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Dear Pasadena Leaders,
I second Wes Reutimann's excellent letter that was sent to you today in preparation for the MSC meeting. We need clear documentation of how we are progressing to a carbon-free electrical grid for Pasadena. And he enunciates so clearly the key reasons why you should reinvigorate your resolve to see the Optimal Strategic Plan to fruition: "Accelerating Pasadena's transition from fossil fuels will save taxpayers in the long-run, improve local air quality, and provide greater insulation from a volatile fossil fuel market."
I encourage you to ask yourself why we are floundering. We can all cite the usual suspects such as indifference, disagreement, misunderstanding, bureaucratic inertia, and competing priorities for a limited economic pie. But I think an underlying failure of imagination may be the root cause. Do you really see the possibility that we can strategically use solar and batteries to replace an entire power plant, save money, and pollute less? One example comes from Oxnard, California in 2017 in which the need for a proposed power plant was entirely prevented by solar and batteries.
Please read this article and inform your imagination about what is possible with the technology that has only improved and become more cost-effective since 2017:
https://earthjustice.org/feature/oxnard-puente-gas-plant-battery-storage Thank you for your dedicated service to our city,
Mark
Mark Rutkowski, MD
Member PASADENA 100
pasadena100.org
9^ Outlook
7/28 MSC Public Comment - Agenda Item 1 - OSP Progress Report From Sam Berndt
Date Tue 7/28/2026 3:08 PM
To PublicComment-AutoResponse <[email protected]>,· Jones, Justin Cc
<[email protected]>,· Hampton, Tyron <[email protected]>; Lyon, Jason <[email protected]>,· [email protected] <[email protected]> Masuda, Gene <[email protected]>; Rivas, Jessica <[email protected]>; Madison, Steve <[email protected]>; Gordo, Victor <[email protected]> [A] CAUTION: This email was delivered from the Internet. Do not click links or open attachments unless you know tine content is safe. Report phish using the Phish Alert Button (PAB). For more information about the PAB view article "KB0011474" on the DolT portal.
Today, between France and Spain, nearly 300,000 people have been evacuated from their homes due to massive wildfires. This comes after record breaking heat waves in June killed over 10,000 people across Western Europe. And of course, we must not forget the struggles our community continues to go through following the Eaton Fire last year. We are in a climate emergency and we must act now.
That is why I am proud of our City for taking the bold action of declaring this emergency, committing to 100% carbon free electricity by 2030 and creating the optimized strategic plan to realize this vision. I must also applaud PWP's efforts to stay on top of the Action Plan defined in Table 4 of the OSP and the variety of programs they have initiated to achieve the goal.
However, I remain concerned.
While PWP has done well to enter into contracts since the adoption of the resolution, the fact remains that these resources do not count toward the resources the OSP details as required in Table 1 of the OSP, which shows the need for 325MW of additional external generation and 125MW of additional external storage. PWP reports that 2 solar/storage projects are under negotiation and many more are under evaluation and we look forward to progress on this front. The resources contracts entered last year have a completion date of 2029; this implies we must enter the remaining contracts this year if we are to achieve our goal.
The Residential Solar component is also concerning. In 2025, the OSP required 3 additional MW of residential solar; only 2.4MW were acquired. Now in 2026, the goal is +4MW and we are on track to reach 2.3MW. While the new local incentives, public outreach, and development of a Feed-in-tariff program are great steps in the right direction, we do not yet see the needed results and more work needs to be done to make up the lost ground. In 2027, the infrastructure and incentives need to be in place to install 8 additional MW of solar on residential buildings - over 3 times the projected amount for this year.
Finally, it is concerning that this is the first time we are hearing about an equity study on the transition.
After so many attempts at undermining the council's clear direction, it is hard for me to trust that this is not yet another such attempt to backdoor excuses to backtrack the decision - or to justify offsetting the costs of the transition off of businesses and onto residential ratepayers.
Sam Berndt