Title
Authorizing City of Saint Paul Officials to accept a draft Energy Action Plan and sign a Memorandum of Understanding with Xcel Energy's Partners in Energy.
Body
WHEREAS, the Saint Paul City Council and Mayor Chris Coleman are dedicated to making Saint Paul one of the most sustainable cities in the United States and to protecting our city’s air, water, and urban landscape; and
WHEREAS, the City of Saint Paul City Council (RES 15-2093) reaffirmed its commitment to reducing greenhouse gas emissions, joined the Compact of Mayors and pledged to meet a series of ambitious milestones outlined in the Compact, to report annually on progress and to disclose publicly the following information within the three years:
• Conduct a greenhouse gas emissions inventory for the City of Saint Paul consistent with the Global Protocol for Community-Scale Greenhouse Gas Emission Inventories (GPC), within one year or less.
• Identify the climate hazards faced by our city, within one year or less.
• Create reduction targets of greenhouse gas emissions and establish a system of measurement, within two years or less.
• Conduct a climate vulnerabilities assessment using a Compact standard, within two years or less.
• Establish a Climate Action Plan that outlines the City’s commitment to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and increase local climate resiliency within three years or less; and
WHEREAS, the City of Saint Paul has completed a greenhouse gas emissions inventory for the City of Saint Paul and identified the climate hazards faced by our city; and
WHEREAS, the greenhouse gas emissions inventory revealed 37% of all emissions come from the transportation sector, 35% of emissions come from the commercial building sector and 17% of emissions come from the residential building sector; and
WHEREAS, the City of Saint Paul applied to and was approved to participate in Xcel Energy’s Partners in Energy Program (RES 16-1382), which will provide the City with technical assistance to develop and implement an Energy Action Plan for the building sectors; and
WHEREAS, the City worked with Xcel Energy’s Partners in Energy program and a technical advisory group that included Center for Energy and Environment, District Energy St. Paul, Energy Cents Coalition, Neighborhood Energy Connection, Saint Paul Port Authority and the University of Minnesota’s Center for Sustainable Building Research to draft a strategic Energy Action Plan for the building sector and will be seeking feedback from key stakeholders; and
WHEREAS, with support from Xcel Energy, National League of Cities, MN Pollution Control Agency, ICLEI and the McKnight Foundation, the City has initiated a robust community engagement process as it drafts a comprehensive Climate Action and Adaptation Plan to be adopted in 2017; and
WHEREAS, the Climate Action and Adaptation Plan will include targets, goals and strategies for reduction for greenhouse gas emissions in the building, transportation, waste and recycling, natural resources and other sectors and adaptation strategies for reducing vulnerability to climate change; now, therefore, be it
RESOLVED, that the Saint Paul City Council accepts the Partners in Energy draft Energy Action Plan, and hereby authorizes the appropriate City officials to complete a memorandum of understanding with Xcel Energy for the implementation plan.