City Leadership on Renewables Surges Ahead
Stories and Trends from 2021
May 18, 2022
Join the conversation on Twitter: #CityRenewables

Agenda
2
Attendees can submit question via the webinar’s Q&A function.
Selected questions will be presented by the moderator to the panel.
20 Minutes: Introductions and Overview of 2021 Data
25 Minutes: Panel Discussion with City Speakers
15 Minutes: Q&A
20 Minutes: Introductions and Overview of 2021 Data

RMI/WRI Speakers
Yuning Liu
Senior Associate
Urban Transformation
RMI
3
Tatsatom Gonçalves
Research Analyst II
Energy Program
World Resources Institute
Lacey Shaver
Senior Manager
Energy Program
World Resources Institute
Heather House
Manager
Urban Transformation
RMI

As cities recover from the pandemic, it is critical for local governments to
invest in infrastructure in a green and equitable way
4
Source: White House, Government Finance Officers Association (GFOA) Source: Climate Mayors Green & Equitable Recovery Report
$176B Roads,
Bridges, Railways
$73B Power Grid $71B Resiliency/
Climate Impact
$65B
Broadband
$64B Public
Transit &
Airports
$55B
Drinking
Water
$43B Misc. Infrastructure
The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA), passed in
November 2021, authorizes $550 billion for infrastructure spending

To accelerate green and equitable climate actions, U.S. local governments
bought more clean energy in 2021 than ever before
5
155 Local Governments
38 States
290 Renewable Energy Deals
4,370 Megawatts (MW)
941,000+ Homes Powered Annually
Across
Data Source: RMI & WRI, Local Government Renewables Action Tracker
+25%
+15%
+55%
+4%
About 3 out of every 4 buyers were first-timers

To accelerate green and equitable climate actions, U.S. local governments
bought more clean energy in 2021 than ever before
6
155 Local Governments
38 States
290 Renewable Energy Deals
4,370 Megawatts (MW)
941,000+ Homes Powered Annually
Across
Data Source: RMI & WRI, Local Government Renewables Action Tracker
+25%
+15%
+55%
+4%
About 3 out of every 4 buyers were first-timers
1,189 1,318 1,233
2,847
3,210
4,206 4,370
2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021
Annual U.S. Local Government Renewables
Deals (MW) by Announcement Year*
* Or operation start year if announcement year is not available
Source: Local Government Renewables Action Tracker (www.cityrenewables.org)

The Tracker is an interactive web tool that represents clean energy
transactions and advocacy efforts announced by U.S. local governments
7

The Transaction Tracker records renewable energy deals announced by U.S.
local governments since 2015
8

The Engagement Tracker highlights selected case studies of city efforts to
support renewables by engaging with utilities, regulators, legislators, etc.
9

According to the Tracker, U.S. cities have purchased more than 18,372 MW of
clean energy since 2015
10
CO MN NJ
Equivalent to the generating capacity of an
individual state such as:
or or
Enough to power over 4 million households
annually, equivalent to:
83x Ann Arbor MI
4.5x Houston TX 11x Columbus OH
or or
Collectively reduced GHG emissions by nearly
30,000,000 MTCO2e / Year
Equivalent to plant over
490,000,000
urban trees every year
~
~
27,000+
New York City
Central Parks

On-site renewables are growing, and first-time municipal buyers are behind it
11
40
56
35
83
106
91
171
52
66
77
103
88
96
119
2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021
Number of U.S. Local Government
Renewable Energy Deals by
Announcement Year*
Other
Deals
On-Site
Deals
*Or operation start year if announcement year is not available
Source: Local Government Renewables Action Tracker
Number of
2021 On-Site
Renewables
Buyers
66 First-Time
Buyers
19 Experienced
Buyers
Highlights
• On-site deals grew by 62% from previous record
• They also accounted for almost 60% of
transactions captured by the Tracker in 2021
• 78% of governments purchasing on-site were
first-time renewable energy buyers
Advantages
Opportunity for cities to gain lower-risk
experience before digging into bigger projects
Offset electricity bills
Local benefits and visibility
Note: Tracker relies on publicly available data. It is possible that the spike
partly resulted from greater publicity for on-site.

Renewables are breaking ground in uncharted territory through partnerships
12
New city purchases occurred in areas not
previously represented in the Tracker
• Starkville, MS: Signed a 30-MW solar
deal, the first Mississippi entry in our
dataset
• Municipal Electric Authority of Georgia
(MEAG Power), GA: Added an 80-MW
solar project to its portfolio, providing
energy to 49 local governments plus local
Walmart stores across GA cities
2021 U.S. Local Government Renewable Energy Buyers

Interest in brownfield solar is expanding
13
Total US Local Government Brownfield Solar
Deals (MW) by Announcement Year*
2015-2018: 43 MW
2019: 25 MW
2020: 21 MW
2021: 207 MW
*Or operation start year if announcement year is not available
Source: Local Government Renewables Action Tracker
• Experienced buyers breaking into landfill solar
• In 2021, local governments had completed 21 such projects
(207 MW)
Highlights
Various Advantages
Can avoid land-
use conflicts
More siting
options
Neighborhood
revitalization
Some Notable Deals
Houston, TX: 52 MW Sunnyside Solar Project
Columbus, OH: 50 MW solar park
Ann Arbor and Pittsfield, MI: 20 MW community solar

What’s next for local government renewables?
14
Uncommon
Technologies
• Utilize risk mitigation
strategies
• Consider on-site solar
during high-volatility periods
Innovative Solutions Challenges What Cities Can Do
Brownfield
Solar
Community
Solar+
Supply chain issues
Solar tariff circumvention probe

Engagement Tracker Key Takeaways
15

Cities have a variety of non-mutually exclusive engagement pathways
16
Electric
utilities
State energy
regulators
State energy
offices
Wholesale
energy markets
State legislative
processes

Many of 2021’s notable engagements were collaborative efforts
17
ENGAGEMENT
TRACKER
Minneapolis, MN:
Public comments
on Xcel IRP PJM CCC:
Collaborative FERC
engagements on
MOPR and public
participation
Texas:
Collaborative effort
to comment on
PUCT wholesale
electric market
design docket
North Carolina:
Collaborative
effort to comment
on Duke IRP

Renewable engagement trends
• More and more cities and counties across the country are
participating in their utility’s integrated resource plan (IRP)
• Groups of cities and counties are banding together to advance
renewable energy and climate priorities collectively
• Once cities have engaged once, they make it a habit
• Cities participating in energy markets will become more of a trend
over the next several years
18

Agenda
19
Attendees can submit question via the webinar’s Q&A function.
Selected questions will be presented by the moderator to the panel.
20 Minutes: Introductions and Overview of 2021 Data
25 Minutes: Panel Discussion with City Speakers
15 Minutes: Q&A

Panelists
20
Missy Stults
Sustainability and
Innovations Manager
City of Ann Arbor, MI
Thomas Pommier
Mayor's Office of Resilience
and Sustainability
City of Houston, TX
Erin Beck
Assistant Director of
Sustainability
City of Columbus, OH

Agenda
21
Attendees can submit question via the webinar’s Q&A function.
Selected questions will be presented by the moderator to the panel.
20 Minutes: Introductions and Overview of 2021 Data
15 Minutes: Q&A
25 Minutes: Panel Discussion with City Speakers

Thank You!
Join the conversation on Twitter: #CityRenewables