East Palo Alto has partnered with the Joint Powers Authority Community Choice Aggregation, Peninsula Clean Energy, to provide all residents and businesses with 50% renewable electricity as an opt-out program. The city has partnered with local non-profit, Canopy, to plant over 1,000 trees in and with the community since the adoption of the first Climate Action Plan. The city has also partnered with Clean Coalition to obtain baseline information about commercial scale solar opportunities and to begin the layout of an Electric Vehicle Charging Master Plan. East Palo Alto has partnered with local non-profit partner, Acterra, to educate residents about the benefits of electric vehicles, hosting local test rides with residents and working with non-profit partners Grid Alternatives to enhance the capability of obtaining solar rooftops and electric vehicle charging stations through Cap and Trade funds to benefit residents located in disadvantaged community blocks. The city has partnered revised the plan review and permitting process for residential solar projects and permitted large-scale alternative on-site energy generation facilities at IKEA and the Home Depot, providing energy emission reductions. The city continues to consider updating local HVAC systems throughout the city facilities, and has replaced all street and intersection lights with LED lighting systems. The city has installed automatic shut-off lighting systems in most city facilities and continues to seek opportunities to upgrade energy efficiency efforts for all city facilities. The city has included electric vehicle fleet in the Capital Improvement Program, for implementation upon finding funding opportunities.

About East Palo Alto

• Incorporated: 1983
• Population: 28,155 (2010) 
• Location: located in San Mateo County
• Area: 2.64 square miles
• Elevation: 20 feet

Climate Action Activities

• Adopted a Climate Action Plan (2011)
• The General Plan sets the goal of “enable[ing] citywide access to energy in a way that meets community needs while positioning the community for a sustainable energy future.”
• The General Plan sets the goal of “become[ing] a resilient community that is prepared for the health and safety impacts of and minimizes the risks of climate change.”

Climate Action Resources

• Provide water conservation tips for residents
• Provide recycling information for residents

Awards

Agency Energy Savings

Agency Natural Gas Savings

Agency Greenhouse Gas Reductions

Community Greenhouse Gas Reductions

• Platinum Level, 20% (2020)

Sustainability Best Practices

• Silver Level (2019)