Report Summary: Apollo Alliance’s New Energy for Cities

Apollo Alliance’s New Energy for Cities sets forth many ways cities can implement clean energy programs. By implementing these programs, cities can create jobs in manufacturing, construction and maintenance. The full report is located under the Resource tab at Apollo Alliance.

Building a Workforce for the Green Enconomy

To become clean and energy efficient, cities will have to provide subsidies or tax breaks to private companies that produce, buy, sell or distribute efficient energy or clean energy products. Cities can condition the subsidies and tax breaks by requiring that the companies adopt job quality and job training standards. Cities should ensure that jobs created for the emerging green economy are good, family-supporting jobs filled by local workers.

Strategies:

1. Regional Energy Industry Partnerships. Cities can develop regional industry partnerships between industry (manufacturers, installers and operations specialists) and local government, labor and education/training institutions. The partnerships can identify the industry’s workforce needs and design training curriculum.

2. Weatherization Assistance Programs. The federal government allocates money to state agencies through its Weatherization Assistance Program. State agencies then disburse the money to local community action agencies who perform the energy retrofits. This money can be used to incorporate job training opportunities for community members.

The Cocopah Tribe took advantage of the federal money to develop a weatherization program in Arizona which reduces energy bills and creates local jobs.

3. Apprenticeship Utilization. Cities can add requirements or incentives for employing workers trained through state-approved apprenticeship programs to any energy legislation. Most common are Project Labor Agreements (PLAs) which are agreements between government and contractors for publicly funded projects. PLAs can require that contractors use apprentices for a percentage of all hours worked.

IBEW-NECA, a vocation high school in Alsip, Illinois, installed a photovoltaic system that allows students to learn the latest technology in photovoltaics and that provides the school with electricity.

The Center for Policy Alternatives has model legislation for apprentice utilization requirements.

4. Wage Standards. Cities can adopt legislation requiring market or living wages, health benefits, job training and career advancement, paid vacation and sick leave, and that a percentage of new jobs are given to local residents. Eau Claire, Wisconsin has adopted a wage ordinance for construction workers, and Milwaukee signed a Community Benefits Agreement that conditions the sale of city land on a number of community benefits.

5. Best Value Contracting (BVC). Cities can employ this procurement method to award contracts based on the best combination of price and qualifications, including the use of skilled, high-quality workers, contractor participation in registered apprenticeship programs and ability to host training programs on energy saving for facilities managers.

Stategies for Cities to Become Energy Efficient

The Report lays out a four part plan for cities to adopt to become more energy efficient:

1. Invest in Renewable Power;
2. Create High-Performance Buildings;
3. Drive Toward Energy Independence; and
4. Build High-Performance Cities.

1. Invest in Renewable Power. By controlling public buildings, and providing financing and incentives to renewable energy developers and private property owners, cities can create a high-quality job market in the renewable energy industry. Albuquerque, New Mexico has adopted a comprehensive renewable energy measure. Full text available here.

Types of Renewable Power:

A. Solar Energy. Cities can install solar electric panels (PV panels) on public buildings, and provide tax credits and other incentives to encourage private property owners to install the PV panels on their residences and businesses.

Chicago is part of a public-private partnership with Spire Solar Chicago and the Piper Fitters Local 597. The Chicago Solar Partnership focuses on energy production and job creation, and provides outreach and education on solar energy and technical assistance to end users.

Cities providing incentives: Santa Clara, Honolulu and Tucson.

B. Geothermal Energy. Geothermal energy systems use the earth’s natural sub-surface heat to produce electricity or to directly heat water or air. The most common technology is geothermal heat pumps, which are used to ease pressure on HVAC systems. The heat pump transfers heat from the soil to the structure in the winter and from the structure to the soil in the summer. Geothermal resources needed to produce electricity are not available everywhere. Punal Thermal Venture provides geothermal energy to the Big Island of Hawaii.

C. Wind Energy. Wind power is cost-competitive with coal-fired plants and produces no emissions. Cities can adopt wind-friendly zoning and planning regulations to promote wind turbines.

D. Biomass Energy. Biomass energy is derived from converting plants and plant-derived materials (trees, plants and wood, animal and industrial wastes) into electricity, liquid and gaseous fuels and other products. The technologies available are (i) Landfill Gas (LFG) – generates power from harnessing the methane gas landfills produce; (ii) Municipal Biomass Collection – using wood waste as a renewable energy source; (iii) Methane Digesters – using large holding tanks to break down human, animal and other organic wastes to produce methane gas; (iv) Combined Heat and Power (CHP)/Cogeneration – using efficient systems to recover heat that would normally be wasted in an electric plant; and (v) Co-firing – using biomass as a secondary and supplemental fuel source in power plants.

LFG: EPA’s Landfill Gas Outreach Program.
Municipal Biomass Collection: District Energy St. Paul, The Green Institute/The Phillips Community Energy Cooperative.

2. Create High Performance Buildings. Cities can promote innovative design and efficient construction principles, and ensure that the construction, operating and maintenance jobs that will be created with green building and energy efficiency retrofits are high-wage.

A. Building Codes. Cities can update their building codes so that they at least meet the standards of International Energy Conservation Codes (IECC).

Cities who have updated codes: Seatle, Aspen and Phoenix.

B. Energy Audits/Retrofits. Cities can perform energy audits and retrofits on public buildings and can encourage such audits and retrofits on private properties. Cities can also require that buildings include efficiency upgrades prior to any transfer or sale.

See Springfield, Berkeley Residential, Berkeley Commercial and Ashland.

C. Green Building Standards. Cities can implement green building standards for city-funded projects and provide incentives for private property owners to green their properties by providing property tax incentives, grant programs and rebates, modifications to zoning regulations and expedited permit review for qualified green building projects. The most commonly accepted green building standard is The Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) rating system published by the U.S. Green Building Council.

Green building requires a skilled labor force. Union apprenticeship and journeyman programs can train workers in modern construction techniques associated with green building projects. Public-private partnerships with labor can be formed to implement the adoption of green building standards and create jobs for sheetmetal workers, electrical workers, glaziers and plumbers and pipefitters.

City-funded projects: Seattle andvChicago.

Private sector initiatives: Alameda County, Arlington County, Aspen, Santa Monica and Oakland.

D. Energy Efficient Products. Cities can purchase products with minimal life-cycle impacts to save energy, reduce emissions, increase the market for high performance products and save money.

E. Utility Regulation and Management. Cities can adopt innovative approaches to utility regulation and management. Policies that can be adopted: (i) Demand Side Management (DSM) – a utility administered program aimed at reducing or modifying consumer energy demand by providing cash rebates for energy efficient products or free energy audits; (ii) Green Pricing Programs – allows customers to voluntarily choose renewable energy as part of their energy mix and gives them the ability to directly buy renewable energy without producing the energy themselves; (iii) Public Benefits Funds (PBF) – funds that are generated by levying a surcharge on consumer electricity usage and used to support energy programs; (iv) Decoupling – severs the link between utility profits and sales quantity; (v) RPS/Feed-In Tariffs – requires utilities operating within city limits to increase their use of renewable energy source over time by (1) setting the minimum amount of renewable energy that must be developed by retail electricity vendors (RPS) or (2) levying tariffs on conventional power producers and using those funds to pay above-market rates to renewable power producers (Feed-in Tariffs); and (vi) Community Choice Aggregation (CCA) – allows city governments or their agents to act on behalf of all their residents in negotiations with utilities.

Demand Side Management: Pacific Gas & Electric, Nevada Power
Green Pricing Programs: Austin Energy, Xcel Energy
Public Benefits Funds: Sacramento, Oregon
RPS/Feed-In Tariffs: Columbia, MO, Ontario

3. Drive Toward Energy Independence. Cities can switch to renewable fuels and high-technolgy vehicles, improve mass transit, upgrade traffic signals and street lights and build the infrastructure that supports privately-owed biofueled vehicles.

4. Build High-Performance Cities. Cities can incorporate smart growth policies by redeveloping and retrofitting existing buildings and infrastructure, giving incentives for residents to live near transit and jobs and preserving open space.

This is just a summary of Apollo Alliance’s New Energy for Cities. Consult the full report for details.