What can an individual city or town do to fight climate change? A lot! View these slides to see what one small Minnesota town has done, what other steps it can take as part of the state's GreenStep Cities program, and model local actions from around the United States

1. L O C A L C L I M AT E
S O L U T I O N S
F O R A N O R T H F I E L D ( M N ) C L I M A T E S U M M I T
John Farrell
Director of Democratic Energy
January 18, 2014

2. Like many cities,
Northfield has already
taken several actions to
reduce its climate impact

3. G R A D E :
C
But there are
Opportunities
Building benchmarking
and retrofits

4. Efficient lighting (LEDs)
But there are
Opportunities

5. Permits*
*http://tinyurl.com/kexun7e
But there are
Opportunities
Enabling local
renewable energy
development

6. F R O M T H E C I T Y ’ S
E N E R G Y TA S K F O R C E
But there are
Opportunities
• a city energy commission
• policies/ordinances? (carbon free by 2033?)
• special energy district?
• update GHG inventory?
• clean energy charge or franchise fee*?
• smart grid pilot?
• benchmarking/energy audit requirement?

7. F R O M T H E C I T Y ’ S
E N E R G Y TA S K F O R C E
But there are
Opportunities
• a city energy commission
• policies/ordinances? (carbon free by 2033?)
• special energy district?
• update GHG inventory?
• clean energy charge or franchise fee*?
• smart grid pilot?
• benchmarking/energy audit requirement?

8. F R O M T H E C I T Y ’ S
E N E R G Y TA S K F O R C E
But there are
Opportunities
• a city energy commission
• policies/ordinances, e.g. carbon free by 2033
• special energy district?
• update GHG inventory?
• clean energy charge or franchise fee*?
• smart grid pilot?
• benchmarking/energy audit requirement?

9. F R O M T H E C I T Y ’ S
E N E R G Y TA S K F O R C E
But there are
Opportunities
• a city energy commission
• policies/ordinances, e.g. carbon free by 2033
• a special energy district
• an updated GHG inventory
• a clean energy charge or franchise fee*
• a smart grid pilot

10. F R O M T H E C I T Y ’ S
E N E R G Y TA S K F O R C E
But there are
Opportunities
• a city energy commission
• policies/ordinances, e.g. carbon free by 2033
• a special energy district
• an updated GHG inventory
• a clean energy charge or franchise fee*
• a smart grid pilot

11. F R O M T H E C I T Y ’ S
E N E R G Y TA S K F O R C E
But there are
Opportunities
• a city energy commission
• policies/ordinances, e.g. carbon free by 2033
• a special energy district
• an updated GHG inventory
• a clean energy charge or franchise fee*
• a smart grid pilot
*http://bit.ly/NorthfieldFranchise

12. F R O M T H E C I T Y ’ S
E N E R G Y TA S K F O R C E
But there are
Opportunities
• a city energy commission
• policies/ordinances, e.g. carbon free by 2033
• a special energy district
• an updated GHG inventory
• a clean energy charge or franchise fee*
• a smart grid pilot
*http://bit.ly/NorthfieldFranchise

13. F R O M T H E C I T Y ’ S
E N E R G Y TA S K F O R C E
But there are
Opportunities
• a city energy commission
• policies/ordinances, e.g. carbon free by 2033
• a special energy district
• an updated GHG inventory
• a clean energy charge or franchise fee*
• a smart grid pilot
http://bit.ly/NorthfieldEnergy
R E A D M O R E H E R E

14. L O C A L E N E R G Y F I N A N C I N G ( PA C E )
Other promising models

15. L O C A L E N E R G Y F I N A N C I N G ( PA C E )
Other promising models
Sonoma County, CA, program

16. S O L A R M A N D AT E S
• Lancaster, CA
• Sebastapol, CA
Other promising models

17. 0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
Installed Cost per Watt
$6.00 $5.00 $4.00 $3.00 $2.00
13%
15%
19%
26%
39%
5% 6%
8%
12%
22%
L O C A L P E R M I T T I N G
Data from The Impact of City-level Permitting Processes on Residential Photovoltaic Installation Prices and Development Times (LBNL, 2013)
...the savings
Approx.year for residential installation* 2013 2017 2023
*From ILSR’s Rooftop Revolution reports: http://www.ilsr.org/rooftop-revolution/
As the cost of solar falls...
from
permitting rise
streamlined
Other promising models

18. L O C A L P E R M I T T I N G
Leading Cities
Other promising models
http://projectpermit.org/

19. L O C A L TA X A U T H O R I T Y
R AT E P E R
K W H
R E S I D E N T I A L $ 0 . 0 0 4 9
C O M M E R C I A L $ 0 . 0 0 0 9
I N D U S T R I A L $ 0 . 0 0 0 3
Boulder’s Climate Tax
$2 million / year
Other promising models

20. L O C A L TA X A U T H O R I T Y
saving homeowners $1,000 / year
2% of all homes
Other promising models

21. B E N C H M A R K B U I L D I N G E N E R G Y U S E
G R A D E :
A
Other promising models

22. S TAT E P O L I C I E S F O R L O C A L A C T I O N
Stretch energy codes
Other promising models

23. E N E R G Y C O D E F R E E D O M
State preemption
No state standard
State set min. only
Other promising models

24. 0%
50%
100%
150%
Efficiency relative to IECC 2006 baseline
R E L AT I V E C O D E E F F I C I E N C Y
Average
Existing
Home
IECC
2006
IECC
2009 Energy
Star v2 IECC
2012
IECC
2015*
Energy
Star v3
CA IL MA
MD RI WA
AL CT DC
FL GA IA
ID IN MI
MT NC ND
NE NH NJ
NM NV NY
OH OR PA
SC TX VA
VT WV
HI KY LA
MN OK
TN UT WI
IECC 2003 - AR CO
No state code - AK AZ KS ME MO MS SD WY
*forecast
2013
Adopted State Codes
Upgrading from IECC 2006
to IECC 2012 means annual
homeowner savings of
$150-$1,100*
*http://tinyurl.com/mls8pxw

25. S TAT E P O L I C I E S F O R L O C A L A C T I O N
• Franchise flexibility – HF 1450
(Minnesota)
• Freedom for cities to negotiate
with their utility
L O C A L E M I S S I O N S
Other
33%
Energy
67%
Other promising models

26. S TAT E P O L I C I E S F O R L O C A L A C T I O N
• Kill the municipal utility poison pill – HF 945
(Minnesota)
10 years
profits
Other promising models

27. L O C A L P O W E R
S A N TA F EB O U L D E R
2x
Coal
Other promising models
http://bit.ly/SantaFeLocalPowerhttp://bit.ly/BoulderLocalPower

28. Read more about
local climate solutions