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Gahanna earns MORPC Sustainable2050 gold plus, named equity champion
Summary
Gahanna announced Feb. 17 that it has been recertified at the gold level — with an equity champion designation — under MORPC's Sustainable2050 program after a year-long benchmarking effort and multiple city initiatives, city officials said.
Gahanna announced on Feb. 17 that it has been recertified at the gold level, with an equity champion designation, under the Mid-Ohio Regional Planning Commission’s Sustainable2050 program, Deputy Senior Director Corey Weibensinger told City Council.
The certification recognizes local governments’ sustainability actions; Gahanna first joined the program by council resolution in 2017 and earned silver status in 2018. The administration said the city’s recent submission and MORPC review upgraded Gahanna to gold plus with an equity champion notation.
Why it matters: the designation reflects a range of municipal projects and policy changes that officials say reduce greenhouse-gas emissions, expand recycling and renewable options, and fold sustainability into city decision-making. City staff said the recognition signals progress toward Gahanna’s goal of reducing greenhouse-gas emissions 50% from 2010 levels by 2030.
Weibensinger, who led the recertification workbook effort, told council the process required extensive documentation and cross-department coordination. “Now I’m proud to report that as of this month, within the last week exactly, we’ve officially been upgraded to, the gold certification, marking a significant achievement in our sustainability journey,” he said.
City officials credited several long-running and recent actions for the score: the community choice aggregation program Gahanna Energy Plus (launched in 2024), expanded public recycling through SWACO grants, LED lighting retrofits funded in part by a Department of Energy Energy Efficiency Community Block Grant (EECBG), reuse of an existing office building for the municipal complex at 825 Tech Center Drive, and a greenhouse-gas inventory completed with Power a Clean Future Ohio. Weibensinger said the greenhouse-gas inventory shows 2023 emissions sitting about 12% below the 2010 baseline; the city peaked at roughly 27% below the baseline during the COVID period.
Weibensinger told council that the community aggregation program enrollment already counts toward the Sustainable2050 scoring. “Community choice aggregation has not been factored into [the greenhouse-gas inventory] data as of yet, but PCFO estimates that a 10 to 25% reduction once fully implemented,” he said, summarizing the consultant’s projection while noting population and economic growth will counteract some gains.
Program metrics and next steps: the administration said more than 9,000 customers are enrolled in Gahanna Energy Plus, with fewer than 500 customers opting out. Weibensinger said the city scored roughly in the low 90s under Sustainable2050’s rubric and would need about 109 points to reach platinum; many additional points would come from expanded on-site renewable energy and related projects tied to the 825 Tech Center Drive redevelopment.
Other items cited during the presentation included ongoing work on EV charging (six public stations now, with expansion planned at the 825 project), the city’s first electric fleet vehicle and fleet-charging installation using Inflation Reduction Act tax credits, urban tree-canopy expansion, smart-metering water conservation, LED streetlight conversions, roundabouts and smart traffic signals, and partnerships for food-waste composting and pollinator protection.
Council members asked how sustainability-oriented financing and the scoring matrix work; Weibensinger said the application gives points for depth and for pursuing outside funding, and that city staff actively pursue grants to advance projects. He said the Sustainable2050 workbook will be posted to the city website and that the gold workbook will replace the 2019 silver-era file.
The city sign acknowledging sustainability status remains visible on Route 62 near the Veterans Memorial, officials noted. Weibensinger and administration staff said the work will continue toward platinum-level recertification and that many initiatives are embedded in policy and capital planning rather than discrete one-off projects.
Looking ahead, officials said the greenhouse-gas inventory will be updated as Gahanna Energy Plus and additional projects come online and that staff will continue to pursue grants and partnerships to expand renewable capacity and EV infrastructure.
