Sustainability and Energy Action Plan

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY GRANTS PASS SUSTAINABILITY AND ENERGY ACTION PLAN NEXT STEPS The adoption of this Plan begins an on -going process of implementing changes to City facilities and operations over the next 22 years in order to develop a more sustainable system of City operations. The Implementation section of this Plan outlines what this process could look like and how the City might want to begin it . These timeline recommendations were generated by weighing each project’s contributions toward goal achievement, its feasibility, and relative urgency. Urgency played a large role because , although all the projects are feasible (or in some cases involve exploration of future feasibility), some are much more cost -effective when factoring in grant funding, which will likely be abundant only for the next few years8. For an overview of the available relevant funding examined by the Taskforce , see Appendix III. Due to its rurality and designation as an area of economic hardship, Grants Pass is also currently more eligible for funding opportunities than other municipalities.9 These funding resources’ availability, coupled with energy savings projections, are key to project feasibility and impact. Right now, the savings in energy usage due to Plan projects using the most modest scenario is estimated to be at least $900,000 annually by 2045,10 and incorporating some more intensive projects is estimated to produce annual savings reaching up to $1,904,582.11 The majority of this change would result in reduced pressure on the general fund, but some would also result in managing increases in utility billing rates over the years.12 ENERGY SAVINGS IMPACT ON CITY FUNDING 13 9