Transportation & Environment Committee
June 6, 2022
Presented by:
Kerrie Romanow
Director, Environmental Services Department (ESD)
Lori Mitchell
Director, Community Energy Department
Julie Benabente
Deputy Director, ESD
Ramses Madou
Division Manager, Department of Transportation
Climate Smart
San José:
Pathway to
Carbon Neutrality
by 2030
BACKGROUND
• Climate Smart San José plan
(2019) • Aligned with Paris Agreement • Focused on energy, water and mobility
• Science indicates we must do
more, faster, to avoid significant
and irreversible impacts
• Council adopted aspirational
goal of carbon neutrality by 2030 • Directed staff to return with Climate Smart acceleration
strategies in June 2022
2 VISION
San José will become a better,
stronger and more resilient
community by accelerating
climate action and moving to
carbon neutrality by 2030.
Commitments to help us
achieve our vision: • Engaging our community
throughout the planning
process
• Making all voices heard
3 FOCUS AREAS
The Pathway focuses on three key areas, which together
generate 85 percent of the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in San José.
Transportation Buildings Power Source
4 KEY STRATEGIES
The Pathway identifies four key acceleration strategies toward carbon neutrality by 2030:
Transportation Buildings Power Source
5 Power Our Community with
100% Carbon-Neutral
Electricity
Move to
Zero-Emission
Vehicles
Reduce the Miles We
Travel in Our Vehicles
by at Least 20%
Switch Our
Appliances from
Fossil Fuel to Electric
STRATEGY 1: MOVE TO ZERO-EMISSION VEHICLES
6 Key Data Takeaways:
• Focus should be on
passenger vehicles, as well as
trucks and commercial
vehicles
• Need to significantly
accelerate pace of electric
vehicle (EV) adoption and
buildout of EV infrastructure
Pathway includes supporting actions
to increase EV charging and EV awareness and uptake
STRATEGY 2: REDUCE VEHICLE MILES TRAVELLED BY 20%
7 Key Data Takeaways:
• Reducing vehicle miles travelled (VMT) to
current 2030 Climate Smart goal will
require significant focus
• Development choices made from now to
2030 will have lasting VMT and GHG effects
Pathway includes supporting actions to improve and
encourage transportation mode-shift.
STRATEGY 3: SWITCH APPLIANCES TO ELECTRIC
8 Key Data Takeaways:
• Focus should be on residential space and water
heating
• Existing programs and incentives can support
transition
• Low-income communities will require assistance
• Solar and appliance replacement at end-of-life
can improve economics
Pathway includes supporting actions to guide equitable building electrification and streamline implementation
STRATEGY 4: 100% CARBON-NEUTRAL ELECTRICITY
9 Key Data Takeaways:
• SJCE already offers low-carbon power
• Should maintain and potentially grow
SJCE's customer base
Pathway includes supporting actions to procure additional renewables and storage, support grid resiliency and renewable service uptake, and increase onsite solar and storage.
• Should monitor GreenValue enrollment and impact on goals • Reaching goal requires deployment of both utility-scale and rooftop solar, paired with energy storage
LEADING BY EXAMPLE
10 Key Data Takeaways:
• Municipal operations are minor contributor but
under City’s control
• Focus on employee commutes & buildings
• Within buildings, focus on Airport central utility
plant
• Can move to 100% renewable electricity quickly
via SJCE
Pathway includes supporting actions to support all-electric municipal buildings, address employee commutes and City fleet, and move to carbon-neutral electricity
THE SCALE OF EFFORT REQUIRED
11 90% EVs =
~83K passenger EVs/yr. and
~7.5K public EV chargers/yr.
20% VMT reduction/ service population
=
~2% reduction in VMT/service
population/yr.
100% buildings electrified =
~43K homes/ yr. and
~9.7M sq.ft. commercial space/ yr.
100% carbon-neutral power =
~650 MW of renewables, ~200-300
MW of storage, and ~200 MW of
hybrid and/or green gas
SUPPORTING RESOURCES
• Existing programs and incentives
• Public-private partnerships
• Significant federal and state
funding to initiate and scale
programs
• San José Clean Energy funding
for programs anticipated to start
in Fiscal Year 24-25
12 NEXT STEPS LOOKING AHEAD
• Broad public engagement and technical
analysis to refine initial supporting actions
• Integrate into upcoming Climate Smart
update
• Ongoing tracking and reporting of progress
• Secure funding
13 QUESTIONS
14