Solar Energy

The city's municipal operations sustainability plan discusses reducing the city's GHG footprint by switching to renewable energy sources such as solar electricity (p. 13). It discusses the city's renewable energy supply and states that 1% of the city's electricity comes from renewable sources (p. 14). It also details solar investments like the one at Fire Station #1 which provides all the hot water needs for the building.

The plan also details efforts the city has taken since being selected as a Solar America City which including expediting the permitting process, educating the community, and developing a long-term community solar roadmap (p. 14).

Two goals of GreenWorks 2012 are to receive 100% of electricity from clean and renewable sources and improving energy efficiency by 50% from 2010 levels by 2030. One of the ways the city plans to accomplish this is through the exploration of renewable energy sources like solar (p. 14).

A notable new initiative of the city is to install 2 MW of solar by 2017 (p. 15). The plan details the educational opportunities that have already been done by GreenWorks including solar and green business seminars, energy efficiency training classes, and a "green bag lunch" series for employees (p. 25).

Actions stated in the plan include converting all electric hot water tanks to solar, heat pump, or natural gas by 2017; installing a solar array on Fleet H garage; install 2 MW of solar, install solar thermal at 10 facilities; convert city facilities to solar power (pp. 27-28).