HomeMy WebLinkAboutMemo - Mail Packet - 12/8/2020 - Memorandum From John Phelan And Molly Saylor Re: Carbon Savings Results For Programs And Inventory - Follow Up To November 24, 2020 Our Climate Future Work Session
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M E M O R A N D U M
DATE: December 3, 2020
TO: Mayor Troxell and City Councilmembers
FROM: John Phelan, Energy Services Senior Manager
Molly Saylor, Senior Sustainability Specialist
THROUGH: Darin Atteberry, City Manager
Jacqueline Kozak-Thiel, Chief Sustainability Officer
Theresa Connor, Interim Utilities Executive Director
RE: Carbon Savings Results for Programs and Inventory – follow up to November 24, 2020
Our Climate Future Work Session
Bottom Line
Staff calculate carbon reductions for programs which have direct reductions in the use of grid electricity
and natural gas. For programs which are classified as enabling, staff is generally not able to attribute
specific carbon savings with certainty.
Background
During the Our Climate Future work session, Councilmember Cunniff asked about the carbon savings
from specific programs. There are several levels at which this question can be answered. Staff calculate
carbon reductions for programs which have direct reductions in the use of grid electricity and natural
gas. The calculations are based upon the carbon accounting principles for grid electricity or natural gas
reductions and examples of this approach include energy efficiency and solar programs.
The electricity savings and lifecycle cost per kilowatt-hour of Utilities program portfolio are reported
annually in the Energy Policy update. For the purposes of this memo, 2019 savings have been converted
to carbon units (metric tons) and also include the distributed renewable programs. Savings are reported
for the annual results and for the cumulative effects since 2005 (as savings continue for the life of the
measure). See Figures 1 and 2.
For programs which are classified as enabling, staff is generally not able to attribute specific carbon
savings with certainty. One example of this type of programs is the Shift campaign. However, enabling
programs are often a driver for increased participation in the direct programs. Updated forecast impacts
for a wide range of strategies (including for waste and mobility) will be a part of the pending Next
Moves analysis.
Staff also uses the annual community carbon inventory process to calibrate and review the drivers for
changes in the inventory. Examples of these drivers include population growth, weather and program
savings. Figure 3 shows this information for electricity based on the 2018 inventory. The figure
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illustrates how utility-scale investments have offset the effects of population growth and weather and
that local investments are the driver for the reported 16% reduction in electricity carbon emissions for
2018. This will be updated in Q1 2021 based on the 2019 inventory and will include industrial process
and product use (IPPU) emissions.
Figure 1: 2019 Utilities Program Annual and Lifetime Savings (electricity and carbon)
Figure 2: Utilities Programs Cumulative Annual Carbon Savings (MTCO2e)
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Figure 3: 2018 Community Carbon Inventory Drivers of Change
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