Creating a regional template for energy and climate planning is a great way to gain efficiencies in the planning process, and promote best practices sharing and discussions across multiple governments. With the assistance of consultants Newcomb Anderson McCormick (NAM) and QuEST, the East Bay Energy Watch (PG&E’s East Bay Local Government Partnership) has developed a new tool to support its municipalities in their furthering of energy and climate planning and implementation, which I’m pleased to be able to share with you courtesy of EBEW, NAM, and QuEST: the Local Government Strategic Energy Plan Template.
The Template provides the municipalities of the East Bay (within Alameda and Contra Costa Counties) with a 10-step recommended roadmap for development of a Strategic Energy Plan:
- Obtain Commitment
- Identify Stakeholders and Form Leadership Team
- Develop an Energy Vision Statement
- Assess the Current Energy Profile
- Create an Action Plan
- Identify Funding and Financing Options
- Select & Prioritize Projects and Programs
- Develop Specific Energy Goals
- Establish Performance Measurement Plan
- Develop, Adopt, and Publicize Strategic Energy Plan
The template covers a wide range of topics – from tools for including stakeholders and building support, to specific energy conservation measures (ECMs) to consider in building retrofits.
To ensure its utility to other municipalities, the City of Oakley and the City of Emeryville worked closely with developers in creation of the template and participated as Pilot Cities – and as such used the template to develop their own Strategic Energy Plans (included as Appendices at the end of the Template PDF).
To learn more about the work of East Bay Energy Watch, click here.