City: Pasadena Council Approves Optimized Strategic Plan for Carbon-Free Electricity by 2030

The City of Pasadena released a statement Thursday announcing that the Pasadena City Council has unanimously approved an Optimized Strategic Plan to achieve 100% carbon-free electricity by the end of 2030.

On Monday, Dec. 15, the City Council unanimously approved the Optimized Strategic Plan (OSP), described as a forward-looking framework that will guide Pasadena Water and Power (PWP) to meet the goals of Resolution 9977. The plan calls for sourcing 100% of Pasadena’s electricity from carbon-free resources by 2030 while optimizing for affordability, rate equity, stability, and reliability of electricity.

“This is a defining moment for Pasadena’s energy future. The Optimized Strategic Plan reflects our community’s values and our shared commitment to climate action,” PWP General Manager David Reyes said in the statement. “We thank the City Council for their leadership and support in adopting this plan, which will guide our decisions and ensure transparency as we move forward in achieving Pasadena’s clean energy goals. The OSP is the result of extensive collaboration, thoughtful analysis, and meaningful community engagement.”

For more than a decade, Pasadena has been a clean energy leader, consistently exceeding California’s renewable energy mandates and advancing more proactive decarbonization pathways than required by the state. Building on this leadership, the City Council unanimously approved PWP’s 2023 Power Integrated Resource Plan (IRP) in December 2023, reinforcing the City’s commitment to clean energy resources. As part of that approval, the Council directed PWP to develop the OSP to operationalize the policy goals into clear, actionable steps.

The OSP highlights pathways and action plans to pursue Resolution 9977 goals, including associated key steps and future decision points to best position Pasadena to achieve carbon-free electricity while maintaining reliability and limiting customer cost impacts. The plan emphasizes expanding local solar generation, investing in clean community-owned projects, and modernizing infrastructure to support a resilient and sustainable energy future. Shaped by input and coordination among the City Council, staff, technical experts, and the community, the OSP brings together policy coordination, technical modeling, fiscal responsibility, and stakeholder perspectives into a single implementation strategy.

Pasadena Water and Power provides electricity to more than 65,000 customers within Pasadena and delivers water to nearly 38,000 households and businesses in Pasadena and adjacent communities in the San Gabriel Valley.

For additional information or to download a copy of the Optimized Strategic Plan, visit PWPweb.com/OSP.