Sustainability and Energy Action Plan

APPENDIX IV: METHODOLOGY GRANTS PASS SUSTAINABILITY AND ENERGY ACTION PLAN PROJECT IMPACTS Emissions estimates were refined using the expected impact of individual projects. To do this, updated electricity or fuel usage values were used in place of those obtained from actual bills for the same facility or vehicle for the relevant period. In some cases, this involves replacing emissions from one source with emissions from another. For example, a traditional gas burning vehicle replaced by an electric vehicle would decrease gasoline usage but increase electrical usage. These factors were taken into account for each project. BE-2-1: The wastewater treatment plant methane digester heating project is assumed to be operational starting in 2030. This project is expected to result in an 80% reduction in the natural gas consumed by the plant. Further, the remaining natural gas usage is assumed to be replaced by electricity -based heating when needed by 2045 using the same approach as explained in the section for natural gas heating for buildings below. T-1: The City’s vehicle fleet conversion project expects to replace vehicles currently powered by fossil fuels with zero -emission vehicles (such as electric vehicles) over time. This project initially focuses on general purpose vehicles, but in the later years of the Plan includes more specialized vehicles such as police patrol. Large firefighting equipment such as pumpers are assumed not to be replaced. Projections of the impact of these conversions were based on fleet vehicles as of October 2022. Details of this project are described in the Transportation section. BE-1-3: Natural gas for heating buildings and the public swimming pool is assumed to be replaced with electricity -based solutions, such as heat pumps, between 2040 and 2045. Each therm of natural gas would be replaced by 29.3 kilowatt hours of electricity, which is the direct energy conversion factor. Electricity costs are estimated using the average utility grid costs of $0.09 per kilowatt hour adjusted for inflation over the period of the Plan. It should be noted that this will almost certainly result in overestimating costs since electric heat pumps are much more efficient in energy usage than traditional natural gas furnaces, however a more accurate estimate would require detailed information that was not feasible to obtain at the time of preparing this model for the Plan. T-3: Employee commute emissions are assumed to be gradually reduced over time in accordance with project initiatives described in the Plan (ride sharing, commute alternatives, and employee adoption of zero -emission vehicles). These reductions are: 2030: 2% 2035: 10% 2040: 30% 2045: 40% CM-2, CM -3: Solid waste emissions are assumed to be gradually reduced over time in accordance with project initiatives described in the Plan (reduction in waste, improved drying of solid waste generated by the wastewater treatment plant, more local options for disposal locations, technology improvements). These reductions are: 2030: 5% 2035: 7% 2040: 10% 2045: 15% 141