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Consider Staff Response to Environmental Stewardship Advisory Board Petition Regarding Electrification.
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Staff:
Department:
Maurice Jones, Town Manager
Town Manager's Office
Mary Jane Nirdlinger, Deputy Town Manager
John Richardson, Community Sustainability Manager
Overview: On January 12, 2022, the Environmental Stewardship Advisory Board (ESAB) submitted the attached petition to Council. The petition asks the Council to adopt policies that would transition our community to all-electric buildings, thereby reducing greenhouse gas emissions and helping to reach the Town's climate goals. That same evening, the Council referred the petition to the Mayor and Manager, who then referred it to staff for review. This memo provides an initial response to the petition.
Recommendation(s):
That the Council review the attached staff report, consider the options presented, and provide staff with additional direction, as appropriate.
Key Issues:
* The timing of a clean replacement for natural gas ("green hydrogen") is uncertain.
* Absent utility or Town financial incentives, converting existing buildings to all-electric equipment will come at a cost to property owners. The cheapest most effective way to create an all-electric building is to design it that way from the start.
* The Town's Climate Action and Response Plan has targets that call for 40% of new buildings to be all-electric by 2025 and 100% by 2030. The plan also calls for converting 7,500 existing buildings to be all-electric by 2030 and 15,000 by 2050.
Fiscal Impact/Resources: Should the Town Council wish to go forward with this, there would be a variety of financial impacts to consider. See the attached staff report for more details.
Where is this item in its process?
Attachments:
* Draft Staff Presentation
* Staff Report
* Petition
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The Agenda will reflect the text below and/or the motion text will be used during the meeting.
presenter
PRESENTER: John Richardson, Communi...
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