Sustainability Advisory Board Agenda and Packet 2021 04 21

Home Browse Search

Sustainability Advisory Board Agenda March 17 Page 3 of 13 (10 min presentation, 10 min Q&A, 5 min assignment) Katie: This was initiated because of the REC agreement and the citizen survey. 67% of our emissions come from buildings. 45% of that comes from the commercial sector. We have climate action goals, and we have a sustainability plan. We don't have the budget to address this. Council wanted to see what a climate action tax would look like. It would sunset over 5 years and could be voted on for an extension. This model is standardized over other municipalities that really address reducing GHG. Three scenarios provided with scaled funding. Collection best opportunity: Excise tax and tax directly on electrical and natural gas consumption on buildings. If we want to do behavior change, excise tax is likely most suited. Programming that already exists and is impactful. Graph from Boulder County indicates buildings are the best place to make an impact. Boulder and Denver have been the only two communities to pass it in Colorado so far. Katie did a lot of background research. There are not a lot of variants in this programming. Majority of funding was aimed at commercial and industry energy efficiency programming and supporting potential code adoption (solar readiness and EV readiness). Council said 2021 is not great timing. There may also be a transportation tax. We need some more background. Council wondered if LSAB could be more involved. Laura: Council is asking for a matrix from LSAB to provide some concrete data on where the money from a tax would go. Another request from the council is to figure out how to accommodate people who are already on renewable energy plans and receiving assistance or are exempt. RJ Harrington: Disappointed that council is kicking the can down the road and asking for more data on the climate tax. What Xcel has done for Boulder, the 3