Pasadena Committee Backs Revised Solar Plan to Meet 2030 Carbon-Free Goal

[UPDATED]  At a special meeting of the City Council Municipal Services Committee on Wednesday, members unanimously approved an “Optimized Strategic Plan” (OSP) for achieving 100% carbon-free energy by 2030.

Kelly Nguyen, Pasadena Water and Power (PWP) Assistant General Manager, introduced the draft, saying, “It has been a long, thorough process with our stakeholders that produced a truly remarkable plan backed with rigorous technical analysis.” She called it “a single actionable framework.” She noted that Pasadena Water and Power had secured $1.2 billion in carbon-free energy contracts, positioning Pasadena to reach 90% hourly carbon-free electricity by decade’s end.

Nguyen noted the progress already made, “consistently outpacing State mandates for renewable energy.” She noted that the City is “on track to meet the State’s 100% renewable goal 15 years ahead of time.”

The plan was prepared by Pasadena Water and Power staff and advised by a citizen Technical Advisory Panel, which included representatives from Caltech, the Chamber of Commerce, Pasadena 100, and the Environmental Advisory Commission, held 14 meetings to shape the plan. Public outreach drew 87 comments and more than 2,600 website visits during a three-week review period.

The OSP is built on five pillars: deploying proven renewable technologies like solar, wind and hydro; developing new and innovative programs and rates; upgrading power delivery capacity; keeping the local Glenarm generation plant as a back-up; and continuing to remain open to emerging technologies.

Cynthia Cannady, president of Pasadena 100, the community group that spearheaded advocacy for the 100% goal, praised the plan overall. “We have come so far in the last three years,” she commented. “It’s a tremendous document – it’s not perfect but it’s pretty astonishing how much ground is covered in this document.” Like many of the 17 public speakers, she called for ending reliance on the gas-fired Magnolia Plant in Burbank, which Pasadena has a small percentage ownership interest in until at least 2036. She also stressed the need to promote local solar at municipal sites, businesses and residences.

Audrey Ma, a 17-year-old Polytechnic student told the Council Committee “the OSP is more than just kilowatts and contracts,” adding, “if we slow down on local solar, if we keep leaning on gas, if we call delay ‘commercial complexities,’ we’re not just breaking a pledge, we’re breaking trust.” She concluded by saying, “Leadership has never been about what’s easy, it’s about what’s right.”

Councilmember Jason Lyon called the plan, “an extraordinary piece of work. I am so proud of where it is already.” His specific reservations echoed those of many of the public speakers. “I feel like we have finally crossed the line where Pasadena Water and Power is affirmatively trying to remove barriers to solar, but we want to affirmatively encourage it.”

Lyon countered an earlier comment of Pasadena Water and Power General Manager David Reyes, who had cautioned that the utility was careful not to incentive local residents to “make money” off of installing solar capacity beyond their needs. “I’m not sure I agree with you that people shouldn’t make money. I don’t know why we wouldn’t want people in Pasadena to make money for generating energy for Pasadena when we’re perfectly happy for someone in Utah or Nevada to make money generating energy for Pasadena,” Lyon quipped, to enthusiastic applause and laughter from attendees. “It’s the same thing and we need it!”

Lyon also called for “a point person – or persons – in charge of solar” to ensure reaching the goals for local solar generation.

Councilmember Tyron Hampton, a longtime champion of local solar, said, “we’re really going to have to lean on our residents to get to our goal. I think we need a campaign around whatever our initiatives and incentives are for our resident to really buy in to solar. I have neighbors that still really don’t understand it and I tell them ‘you are going to pay way less on your electricity bill.” He called for making permitting easier and lifting the cap Pasadena Water and Power imposes on solar installations to 200% of existing usage which was recently raised to 150% as a first step. Many homeowners are buying electric vehicles or swapping out gas heating and cooking appliances for heat pumps and induction stoves, needing additional future capacity. Pasadena already has 14,000 electric vehicles registered in the city, with 2,500 added last year. Hampton also urged the utility to expedite installation of so-called “municipal solar” – installing photovoltaic panels on City buildings, parking lots and other facilities such as reservoirs.

Councilmember Rick Cole made the motion to approve the plan, which was seconded by Councilmember Lyon and passed unanimously. It incorporated a range of changes, most notably an increase in the target for local solar. With 30 megawatts of generation currently in place, the motion called for an additional 70 megawatts of local solar instead of the plan’s 50 megawatts. He said, “that’s the minimum we can go for.” He stressed that all of the demand that’s met by customer-installed solar “we don’t have to pay for – we don’t have to provide – our customers for free have supplied their own needs. That’s a huge plus because it means we don’t have to go out and buy it to supply it to them.”

Cole also called for adding more “measurable goals” to track progress on the plan. “This is a great plan, but ultimately we have to implement the plan and it helps to have measurable goals to get there.” His motion also incorporated Hampton’s proposal to lift the cap to 200% of prior usage for new solar.

Municipal Service Committee Chair Councilmember Justin Jones stressed the need to maximize solar installations on municipal sites. He asked for a report back to the committee by from staff by January outlining the approach to achieving that goal. He also asked for follow-up from staff on the future of the Magnolia generating plant; removing obstacles to solar installation; and the formula for crediting customers for selling solar energy back to the grid.

General Manager David Reyes accepted the various additions made by the Committee. He anticipated the OSP to go forward to the full Council for approval in approximately a month.