City OKs facilities clean energy plan

The Atlanta City Council unanimously approved on Monday a robust plan officials say ensures all city facilities will operate on clean energy by 2035.

Under the plan, all Atlanta government facilities, includ- ing Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, will be powered by solar or other forms of clean energy. Atlanta currently receives eight per- cent of its energy from clean energy sources.

The city did not say how much the conversions will cost taxpayers, but officials claim the plan prioritizes low-cost measures and does not commit the city to any funding. However, the Office of Resilience may request funding in subsequent fiscal year budgets.

Chief Resilience Officer Amol Naik said smaller initiatives — such as lighting changes at City Hall and installing solar panels at recreational centers and fire stations — have already begun and are designed to decrease energy bills, create green jobs and improve air quality. Naik described the larger plan as “ambitious, but doable.”

Naik said Atlanta officials talked to residents with the help of grassroots organization Georgia Sierra Club and to develop the plan that includes creating an energy efficiency renter assistance program; developing a community program to increase solar energy usage and work- ing to adopt stronger building codes for greater energy effi- ciency and solar power. The plan will also address air emis- sions by launching car-shar- ing programs for low-income residents.

Naik’s office is tasked with executing the plan, which includes interim targets that include: 10 percent of munici- pal buildings by 2020; another 30 percent by 2025 and 50 percent by 2030.

The plan will create more than 7,700 jobs and reduce monthly household electricity bills by $234 if the city fully converts to clean energy by 2035.

“What we did was set this bold vision and have a number of paths within [the plan] that we can take to get them,” Naik told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Naik said his office will meet with stakeholders such as Georgia Power and The Rockefeller Foundation in the next 90 days to determine which path is most feasible.