Councilmembers, Residents Question PWP Capital Budget Priorities at Budget Workshop

Some Pasadena Councilmembers and residents called on city staff Monday night to revise Pasadena Water and Power’s proposed capital improvement budget, saying it does not adequately fund solar generation and battery storage projects tied to the city’s 2030 carbon-free electricity mandate. PWP General Manager David Reyes is preparing a document showing the utility’s direct investment toward that goal, according to Assistant City Manager Matt Hawkesworth.

The exchange came during a continuation of the council’s budget workshop at Monday’s meeting.

The council established five budget priorities at a December 2025 workshop, including moving the city toward a carbon-free future — a goal formalized in Resolution 9977, the city’s climate emergency resolution, and the Optimized Strategic Plan approved by the council in December 2025.

Multiple public speakers criticized specific line items in the draft Capital Improvement Program (CIP) budget for PWP’s electric system.

Resident Jeanette Foster said the budget “fails to adequately fund solar generation on municipal properties and the Broadway Best Storage Project,” and said unfunded electric system projects for solar generation and storage result in a five-year gap of $392 million. She said $33 million designated for a proposed new PWP headquarters building should be redirected to solar and storage.

Sam Berndt said PWP had placed 18 of the 20 megawatts of required local solar at the bottom of the CIP priority list, leaving those projects and a critical storage facility unfunded. He said staff instead proposed spending on a new headquarters, an $11 million dispatch center remodel and $15 million upgrades each for natural gas turbines. He urged the council to direct staff to revise the CIP to achieve 100 percent carbon-free electricity by 2030.

Resident Ana Soulriver said the proposed new PWP headquarters does not align with the city’s declared climate emergency or its adaptive reuse ordinance. She cited lifecycle research showing that construction emissions are 12 times higher than comparable refurbishment, and asked whether PWP had conducted an adaptive reuse analysis before proposing the new building.

Sandy Krasner said the Broadway battery storage system is listed as Priority 28 in the CIP with no money allocated, while the CIP includes significant funding for upgrading the Glenarm natural gas facility.

Mark Rutkowski, La Cañada Flintridge resident, said the $33 million headquarters allocation could fund 7.5 megawatts of the planned 20 megawatts of municipal solar, and that every megawatt added now could yield clean energy for 30 or more years with minimal maintenance cost.

Polytechnic School student Audrey Ma said the council passed Resolution 9977, invested in an implementation plan and approved the Optimized Strategic Plan, but said “a promise without funding is just words on paper.”

Hawkesworth acknowledged that the proposed CIP does not yet fully reflect the council’s priorities. He said staff recognizes “there isn’t even the same funding for street resurfacing that there was this year” and that millions of dollars for priorities like a year-round homeless shelter have not been identified.

Hawkesworth said staff is working behind the scenes to align spending with the five priorities and that they have been the subject of “conversations in every one of our budget meetings.”

Councilmember Justin Jones said he had spoken with PWP General Manager David Reyes, who confirmed that the utility is preparing a document showing direct investment tied to Resolution 9977.

Hawkesworth said the goal is to distribute that document by Thursday with the agenda publication for the CIP public hearing opening April 13. PWP staff did not present during the budget workshop discussion; the utility’s clarifying document is expected before the April 13 public hearing.

Councilmember Jason Lyon said that when the council identified carbon-free energy as a priority, he meant that funding for these goals is “sacrosanct” — not subject to cuts and potentially growing. He said the city has four fiscal years remaining to meet the 2030 goal and should be spending roughly a quarter of the necessary programs in the next budget year.

Councilmember Rick Cole said he found the capital budget, with limited exceptions, “disappointing” and not responsive to the council’s five stated priorities. He noted the city has demonstrated the ability to follow through on priorities in the past, citing multiyear investments in library facilities, sewer repairs, water infrastructure and electricity infrastructure, and called for the same commitment to carbon-free energy.

The council’s five budget priorities include modernizing fire department facilities, improving roadways and pedestrian safety, investing in a year-round shelter and transitional housing, moving toward a carbon-free future and implementing an economic development strategic plan.

The CIP public hearing is scheduled to open at 6 p.m. April 13 at Pasadena City Hall.