2020
12-POINT ENERGY & CLIMATE ACTION PLAN
FOR FAIRFAX COUNTY
CLEAN ENERGY FOR FAIRFAX NOW CAMPAIGN
GREAT FALLS GROUP OF VIRGINIA SIERRA CLUB
COMMUNITY-WIDE ENERGY AND CLIMATE INITIATIVES
1). Launch Program and Intensively Market Commercial Property Assessed Clean Energy and Resilience (C-PACE): Launch the full program by the end of the first quarter of 2020 and intensively market the program. This action will provide critical financing to supercharge the inclusion of energy efficiency, renewable energy, water savings, and resilience measures in eligible buildings, thereby supporting the county’s goals to repurpose and revitalize underutilized buildings, to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions resulting from energy use in new and existing buildings and to reduce adverse impacts of climate change (e.g. flooding).
2). Develop Community-Wide Energy and Climate Action Plan (CECAP):
Utilize the new staff and contractor funding provided in 2019 to work aggressively on the development of a community-wide energy and climate action plan to reduce the 97% of GHGs attributable to residences, businesses, and the state and Federal government sectors. This plan should be completed no later than the 1st quarter of 2021. The plan should include specific actionable steps to identify and reduce GHG emissions and identify the highest priority action items. Actionable steps for the public and private sectors should be done in tandem. During the development of the community-wide action plan, the county should continue to pursue targeted energy and climate actions to keep momentum going and to inform the longer-term plan. For example, the County could partner with the business community to initiate a Green Business Challenge to encourage benchmarking of building energy consumption and mitigating actions through a scorecard system. The County could provide incentives that motivate job creation for and investment in energy efficiency for the residential sector.
3). Approve Funding and Develop County Adaptation/Resiliency Plan:
Approve funding for contractor support to develop a county adaptation/resiliency plan to prepare for the impacts of climate change (e.g., flooding, power outages) on local residents, businesses, and critical infrastructure and to help reduce the impact and costs of extreme weather events. Strong consideration should be given to purchasing frequently flooded land. This plan should be completed by mid-2020. **Approve funding in FY 2020 Third-Quarter Review Budget for contractor support to develop plan.
4). Implement Best Management Practices in County Energy and Climate Programs:
The county should pursue aggressive implementation of best management practices, including the leadership and accountability actions referenced in item 6.c. of the Fairfax Green Initiatives Board Matter and by clearly defining the roles and responsibilities of senior energy/sustainability managers and interagency teams in a county ordinance or executive directive.
5). Reduce Transportation-Related Emissions:
Increase investment in transit, bicycle and pedestrian projects and strengthen strategies to reduce emissions. Examples include bus rapid transit on dedicated bus lanes to reduce the use of single-occupancy vehicles to and from Metro stations and improvements in the speed, reliability, frequency, and user experience of the bus system with a focus on areas with strong ridership potential. Develop a plan to transition to electric buses for the Fairfax Connector service and County schools. Consider options for public-private partnership funding.
6). Promote Actions to Reduce Climate-Related Impacts in the Land Development Process:
Implement changes in the land development process (e.g., zoning, permitting, Comprehensive Plan) to reduce GHG emissions in the building sectors. Examples include actions to strengthen green building requirements to achieve net-zero emissions in new and redeveloped structures. The county should also require explicit consideration of mitigation of GHG impacts in the planning process, by establishing a new Evaluation Category that quantitatively considers the impact of GHG emissions of a particular building, project and/or development, including from transportation impacts.
ENERGY AND CLIMATE STRATEGIES FOR COUNTY OPERATIONS
7). Execute Solar Purchase Power Agreement (PPA) for Solar Energy Projects at County Facilities and Schools:
The County should ensure installation of on-site solar at county government facilities and schools (113) as a result of its 2019 PPA contracts. News of this milestone and future installations, which is expected to substantially reduce county electric bills and GHGs, should be shared widely with county residents.
8). Conduct Review of Results of the July 2018 County Operational Energy Strategy and Propose Actions to Substantially Strengthen the Strategy:
By April 2020, county staff should publicly release a review of the energy savings and GHG reductions achieved under the Strategy. The County Executive also should present options to the Board and the CECAP Task Force to strengthen the targets in the Strategy for the focus areas (e.g., energy efficiency, renewable energy).
9). Substantially Strengthen the Energy Efficiency Target for County Buildings and Implement Associated Measures: One of the top priorities for strengthening the Operational Energy Strategy is the energy efficiency focus area. The energy reduction target for county buildings should be increased to at least 4% kBtu per year. The Board should aggressively pursue Energy Service Performance Contracts, direct funding (with associated budget estimates) or capital bonding. The plan should be designed to support deep energy efficiency retrofits in as many existing buildings as is possible and require the highest level of energy efficiency in new buildings.
10). Fund Conversion of Streetlights to High-Efficiency Light Emitting Diodes (LED) Fixtures:
Since 15.5% of all electricity consumption by county government operations was attributed to streetlight use in 2017, conversion to high efficiency LED fixtures should be a high priority. This conversion has been projected to reduce GHGs from streetlight use by more than 50%. **Provide second-year funding in FY 2020 and accelerate 5-year funding plan, if possible, to expedite installation.
STATE AND REGIONAL ACTIONS
11). Fairfax County Government Should Lead Efforts to Advocate for the Enactment of New State Legislation (and Reforms in Existing Legislation) to Increase Energy Efficiency, Renewable Energy and Improve Transit:
The county should work with its General Assembly Delegation and regional and state partners to develop a strong energy and climate agenda and to advocate for the enactment of this agenda. The county should assure that sufficient resources are available to it (in collaboration with its regional partners) to effectively pursue legislative goals that significantly reduce GHG emissions. The county should advocate for reforms to Transportation Impact Analysis regulations to reduce reliance on vehicle Level of Service (LOS) analyses, due to its bias toward vehicular use at the cost of multi-modal alternatives.
12). Continue Strong County Advocacy to Remove Barriers in Virginia Law to Customer-Sited Solar Generation:
Engage in strong advocacy with the General Assembly the Governor (in collaboration with regional, local government and other organizations) to promote the enactment of legislation removing barriers to customer-sited solar energy. Removing key barriers would allow the county to fully implement its solar PPA, install a major solar array on the Lorton Landfill, and complete other solar development that would reduce the county’s utility bills by millions of dollars and substantially reduce GHGs