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Home My WebLink About5-B Public CommentAnthony Mejia From: kimffloyd@fastmail.com Sent: Wednesday, October 27, 2021 5:40 PM To: City Clerk Subject: Public Comment Council Agenda Item 5B 10/28/21 INOTICE: This message originated outside of The City of Palm Springs -- DO NOT CLICK on links or open attachments unless you are sure the content is safe. Dear Mayor and City Council, We first want to commend Palm Springs on updating its GHG inventory, making it one of only a few California cities to have updated its climate inventory since 2015. Secondly, we want to congratulate Palm Springs for its leadership role in forming Desert Community Energy. The huge drop in electricity emissions in 2020 is due to the cleaner energy provided by DCE. Thirdly, we are excited to support immediate passage of the proposed Palm Springs Existing Home Energy Sustainability Ordinance Proposal to "require homes built before 2011 undergoing additions, alterations, or remodels to make certain targeted upgrades." Fourthly, we are glad to see the impressive set of Reach Codes the City implemented in the 2019 Building Code Cycle and look forward to more in the 2022 Code Cycle. Finally, it is excellent to see the staff report point out the City's accomplishments, plus present a number of important options for future GHG reductions, especially the inspiring City of Irvine resolution stating, "The City of Irvine will endeavor to achieve a zero -carbon local economy consistent with 2030 targets based on the most recent climate science." Because of this resolution they were eligible for the Cool City Challenge, and they were just awarded a $1 million grant by the program. Another awardee is the City of Los Angeles, which also adopted a motion for achieving carbon neutrality by 2030. Sierra Club proudly sponsored both Cities' applications to the Cool City Challenge. We'd love to partner with Palm Springs if you decided to take the same challenge next year. Other important proposals should be implemented as quickly as possible, including requiring cannabis grow facilities to use 100% carbon free energy, enchanting the existing incentive program for Home Energy Assessments including considering a required energy assessment at time of home sale, and building electrification for both residential and commercial projects. Another priority should be to reduce methane emissions from the wastewater treatment plant as mentioned on page 513-25. It is important to tightly cover lagoons and flare the emissions if they cannot be economically cleaned up to make renewable electricity. Many wastewater treatment plants make nearly enough onsite renewable energy to run the plant. While we appreciate Council's support for real climate actions as mentioned above, we also support staffs recommendation for expanding the Office of Sustainability. It is important to have staff such as the following: a specialist focusing on waste, water and other related issues. a specialist focusing on GHG emissions reductions, which could include monitoring emissions, working with departments on assessing environmental impacts for proposed projects, EV installation/oversight, fleet electrification, building improvements, etc. a planning and building liaison. Since the city has a lot of growth and new projects, it is important to have one dedicated to engagement with these efforts. Thank you for your consideration of these comments. We look forward to continuing to support Palm Springs as a national leader in sustainability. i o I Ze rMM NO. Regards, Kim F. Floyd Conservation Chair Sierra Club San Gorgonio Chapter 760-680-9479 Anthony Mejia From: Jennifer Cusack <Jennifer.Cusack@sce.com> Sent: Thursday, October 28, 2021 5:21 PM To: Christy Holstege; Lisa Middleton; Dennis Woods; Grace Garner; Geoff Kors Cc: City Clerk; David Freedman; Joshua Public Affairs Torres Subject: SCE Comments Agenda Item 5.13 Attachments: G21-001 Resource Adequacy Fact Sheet_030121.pdf NOTICE: This message originated outside of The City of Palm Springs -- DO NOT CLICK on links or open attachments unless you are sure the content is safe. October 28, 2021 Mayor & Members of the City Council City of Palm Springs 3200 E Tahquitz Canyon Way Palm Springs CA 92262 RE: SCE Comments Regarding City Council Agenda Item 5.13: DISCUSSION OF CURRENT, PLANNED, AND POTENTIAL ADDITIONAL ACTIONS TO MITIGATE CLIMATE CHANGE AND ADAPT TO CLIMATE IMPACTS. Dear Mayor and Member of the City Council: Southern California Edison (SCE) appreciates the opportunity to comment on the City of Palm Springs' discussion on additional actions to mitigate climate change. SCE commends the City of Palm Springs for updating their Sustainability Plan. SCE agrees the urgency to act on climate change grows more serious each year. While more work remains, we are encouraged by the City's interest in the areas of building decarbonization and transportation electrification. SCE urges the City Council to adout measures that include both buildina electrification and transportation electrification. Adopting a building energy reach code and supporting the expansion of EV charaina infrastructure are critical to reducing emissions and improving local air gualit We are committed to serving the needs of California's clean energy future. This will require a grid that supports high levels of carbon -free resources, integrating new technologies and services. We will also need to ensure the grid remains safe, reliable, affordable, and resilient even as the climate continues to evolve. Our Reimaginin4 the Grid paper outlines how we are planning to change the way we design, build, and operate the electric grid. We are modernizing and hardening our distribution system, leveraging sophisticated hardware and software to manage an increasingly complex and intelligent grid. This will not only help enable greater adoption of clean energy technologies, but it will also make the grid more resilient to threats such as wildfires and heatwaves. We are investing between $4-5 billion annually to build a grid that will support the clean energy future. Additionally, customer -owned resources like rooftop 1 t 012, rrEM NO. solar and battery storage can offer an additional level of resiliency. We estimate about half of single-family homes in our service territory will have some combination of solar and storage by 2045. There are additional benefits to a clean energy future beyond reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. As we electrify vehicles and buildings, the economics of energy will change. Electrification puts downward pressure on energy costs.' Electric technologies tend to be more efficient. By 2045, SCE estimates the average customer spend across all types of energy combined will decrease by one-third on average. SCE is working on programs to incentivize customers to access these cleaner technologies. Our Charge Ready program will help install up to 38,000 new electric vehicle charge ports at businesses, government sites and multi -family housing developments across Southern California. Our Charge Ready Transport program is helping fleet operators install charging infrastructure so they can electrify their fleets. Our Low -Income Building Electrification Pilot will retrofit qualifying customers' homes at no cost, and we are actively working on incentives to help additional customers transition their homes and businesses to cleaner and more efficient electric technologies. Importantly, California has established aggressive targets to reduce emissions. SCE published a paper Mind the Gap which explains the role electrification must play to meet the California's goals. The City of Palm Springs has an opportunity to be a leader in our region and we applaud your efforts. Thank you for considering our comments. On behalf of SCE, I would like to thank the members of the City of Palm Springs Sustainability Commission for the ongoing partnership with SCE. We look forward to continuing to collaborate with the City to achieve the goal of a carbon -neutral future, which will provide cleaner air, better quality of life, and new economic opportunities. 1 Synapse Energy Economics, Electric Vehicles Are Driving Electric Rates Down Sincerely, Jennifer Cusack Government Relations Manager Southern California Edison Government Affairs I Local Public Affairs Direct. 760-202-4211 1 Cell. 760-419-3510 1 PAX 14211 Twitter @SCE JenniferC •------------------------------------------------ SS1417HUR% ULhON'\U J E D I S O N I Energy for What's Ahead " If you see fallen power line(s), please stay away and call 911 immediately. Emergency Hotline: 800-611-1911 or www.sce.com/outage General Customer Service: 800-655-4555 or www.sce.com/contactus Local Planning: httos://www.sce.com/partners/consulting-services/localplanning 2 Wildfire Safety Program & Rebates: https://www.sce.com/safety/wildfire Energy Savings Assistance: 800-736-4777 or www.sce.com/esap Savings By Design (new construction/remodel): https://www.savinizsbvdesiizn.com/ Energy Education Center FREE Online Classes https://www.sce.com/business/consulting-services/energy-education-centers Energy Efficiency for Businesses/Non-profits: https://sceonlineapp.com/ Clean Energy Pathway https://www.edison.com/home/our-perspective/pathway-2045.htmi Electric Vehicles: https://www.sce.com/residential/electric-cars Edison News: https://energized.edison.com/ Request a Speaker: https://www.sce.com/ko/about-us/communitv/outreach/speakers-bureau Customer PSPS & Emergency Preparedness Programs/Rebates COVID-19 SCE Programs Synapse Energy Economics, Electric Vehicles Are Driving Electric Rates Down