CITY OF SAN MATEO
CITY OF SAN MATEO
Agenda Report
City Hall
330 W. 20th Avenue
San Mateo CA 94403
www.cityofsanmateo.org
Agenda Number: 20 Section Name: {{section.name}} Account Number: 10-1311 File ID: {{item.tracking_number}} TO: City Council
FROM: Alex Khojikian, City Manager
PREPARED BY: City Manager's Office
MEETING DATE: May 19, 2025
SUBJECT:
Climate Action Plan – Annual Progress Report
RECOMMENDATION:
Receive a progress report on the implementation of the City's Climate Action Plan.
BACKGROUND:
The Climate Action Plan (CAP) includes strategies and measures to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. The CAP contains implementation measures in the following categories: building electrification, renewable energy, energy efficiency, municipal energy efficiency, clean transportation fuels, sustainable transportation, solid waste, water and wastewater, and off-road equipment. In 2023, the Climate Action Plan technical update was completed to align with the General Plan. The updated CAP was adopted in March 2024 in conjunction with the General Plan.
Annual Progress Report Key Highlights
To track CAP implementation, staff provides annual progress reports to the Sustainability and Infrastructure Commission and City Council on the status of the different strategies. Attachment 1 to this report provides both qualitative and quantitative data to show how progress has been made on each of the CAP measures over the 2024 calendar year.
Some key highlights of implementation of CAP implementation are as follows:
Reach Codes: In January 2025, the San Mateo City Council adopted an Energy Performance Reach Code for new construction that requires energy compliance margins for new buildings and repealed its unenforceable all-electric requirement. The City’s reach code was approved by the California Energy Commission on April 10, 2025 and will be effective through December 31, 2025.
Green City Fleet: City staff continues to evaluate the replacement of equipment and vehicles with electric options.
Currently, the City fleet includes 15 electric units. Installation of charging infrastructure at City facilities is needed to support electric fleet units.
oCity Hall: With the support of the Peninsula Clean Energy’s Public EV Fleets program, the City is working to install 12 Level 2 charging ports at City Hall. The City's design was reviewed and approved by PG&E.
Through PG&E's Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Rule 29 program, PG&E will install to-the-meter infrastructure at a nominal cost and the City is responsible for the behind-the-meter infrastructure, including the design, installation, and permitting of EV chargers. City staff plan to bid and complete project installation in 2025. This project is funded by PCE’s Member Agency Grant and PCE’s EV Ready Program. oCorporation Yard: In August 2024, staff initiated engagement with the PG&E EV Fleet Program to install
CITY OF SAN MATEO
electric vehicle (EV) chargers for fleet use at Corp Yard. Through the PG&E EV Fleet Program, PG&E designs and installs to- the-meter infrastructure at a nominal cost and provides the City with incentives for the purchase of electric vehicles for the City fleet. The City is responsible for the behind-the-meter infrastructure including the design, installation, and permitting of EV chargers. The project will result in the installation of 12 Level 2 charging ports to support the City's green fleet transition. City staff are currently waiting for PG&E approval of the preliminary design. In addition, City Council approved the PG&E EV Fleet Program’s Terms and Conditions at the May 5, 2025 City Council meeting. oPolice Department: Currently, the Police Department relies on two Level 1 outlets to support charging for their two electric fleet vehicles. To provide improved charging in the short-term, staff initiated work to upgrade the outlets to 220 V outlets to support faster charging. Staff are working with PCE’s Public EV Fleets program to scope out a long-term charging solution for the Police Department. Publicly available electric vehicle charging: Staff rely on crowd-sourced data on Plugshare.com to track the installation of EV chargers on private property that are available to the public. There are 254 charging ports that are publicly available in the city, not counting the ports at City-owned facilities; this includes 38 direct-current fast charging (DCFC) ports, 132 Level 2 charging ports and 84 Tesla charging ports. This marks incredible growth since 2023 when there was a total of 174 ports.
Pedestrian improvement projects: Staff would like to highlight the pedestrian improvement projects in Downtown and at Hillsdale High School.
oDowntown: The City completed construction of pedestrian safety improvements in winter 2024 at three downtown public parking garages: Central Parking Garage, Main Street Parking Garage, and 2nd and El Camino Real Parking Garage. The project made pedestrians and exiting vehicles more visible to each other where the garage entrance and exit driveways cross the sidewalk. Improvements included protected walkways, wayfinding signage, audio and visual warning devices, and convex mirrors for better visibility around corners.
oHillsdale High School: The City was awarded $390,720 from the San Mateo County Cycle 7 Pedestrian and Bicycle Program for designing pedestrian safety improvements on 31st Avenue near Hillsdale High School.
The project will advance recommended improvements from a walk audit conducted with the Hillsdale High School community into a construction-ready design. The design will include curb extensions, high-visibility crosswalks, and a new traffic signal at the Alameda de las Pulgas intersection to improve access to the high school and along the 31st Avenue corridor, encourage active transportation, and reduce congestion. Rebates: Community members took advantage of all types of rebates to reduce water and energy consumption in their homes. Peninsula Clean Energy and BayREN provided rebates for heat pump water heaters, heat pump HVAC systems, and panel upgrades. Cal Water provided rebates for water efficient equipment and turf replacement for residents and businesses. The City of San Mateo continues to provide rebates for rain barrels and electric leaf blowers. Through these programs, community members save money while reducing their carbon footprint. Of note, Peninsula Clean Energy saw growth in heat pump HVAC rebate and the City issued a record number of electric leaf blower rebates for 2024.
Electrify San Mateo: The Electrify San Mateo effort aims to identify existing building electrification policies to help meet the City’s climate goals. The project team made significant progress on collecting community input on the different policy pathways that were reviewed by City Council in January 2024. Outreach continues in 2025 with community workshops and an information gathering survey. More information on this project will be provided as a standalone item to the City Council tentatively scheduled for June 19, 2025.
CITY OF SAN MATEO
BUDGET IMPACT:
There is no fiscal impact.
ENVIRONMENTAL DETERMINATION:
This informational report is not a project subject to CEQA, because it can be seen with certainty that it will not cause a physical change in the environment. (Public Resources Code Section 21065.)
NOTICE PROVIDED
All meeting noticing requirements were met.
ATTACHMENTS
Att 1 – Climate Action Plan Progress Report
STAFF CONTACT
Andrea Chow, Sustainability Analyst
[email protected]
(650) 522-7007