Tucson reports strong early progress on climate plan; energy sourcing study to test municipal and CCA options

City staff on Jan. 22 presented the first annual progress report for Tucson Resilient Together (TRT), the city’s climate action and adaptation plan, and briefed the Mayor and Council on an energy sourcing study assessing options to decarbonize city operations and the community electricity supply.

TRT progress: Chief Resilience Officer Fatima Luna reported the city had advanced more than the manager’s target for the plan’s actions, saying the administration advanced 76% of TRT actions (exceeding a 59% objective for the first implementation year). Staff highlighted roughly $94 million in climate‑related grant awards secured by city departments, and $121 million in city investments in projects that advance TRT goals, with Transportation & Mobility (DTM) accounting for a large share of project spending. Staff described progress on heat resilience (a heat action roadmap, heat‑protection policies for contractors and city employees, distribution of heat‑relief kits and a planned Southern Arizona Heat Summit) and on the 1,000,000 Trees initiative and urban forest inventory.

Energy sourcing study: Energy Manager Michael Catanzaro introduced consultants GDS, who are assessing four major avenues: (1) feasibility of forming a municipal utility (acquiring distribution assets and providing retail service in the city); (2) feasibility of community choice aggregation (CCA) if enabling legislation were available in Arizona; (3) solar service agreements and virtual power purchase agreements (VPPAs) to increase renewable supply; and (4) microgrid deployment opportunities, including resilience hubs such as the Donna R. Liggins facility.

Study process and timing: GDS said the project is on track, began in October, will deliver a draft report for review in March 2025 and a final report in May 2025. The consultants said their municipal utility study will model the costs of acquiring distribution assets, separation costs, power‑supply scenarios (with an initial operating year target of about 50% greenhouse‑gas‑free supply and ramping to a 2045 target), and stranded cost considerations. For CCA, GDS will evaluate U.S. best practices (noting that enabling legislation does not currently exist in Arizona). The microgrid evaluation will examine both grid‑connected and self‑contained models for community resilience hubs.

Council questions and public comment: Councilmembers asked about public engagement timing and requested the draft be published to allow community review before the March public session. Members also asked for comparisons to other community examples cited by consultants. Several speakers at public comment urged the council to pursue local renewable electricity options and public ownership; others pressed for rapid action to address climate and heat risks. A handful of callers asked consultants to verify cost assumptions; a staff follow‑up was requested to ensure consultants review publicly available power‑purchase agreement data.

Ending: Staff encouraged public engagement at upcoming meetings; the city will post the draft in March and continue community briefings before delivering the final report in May. The city’s TRT team will continue quarterly outreach and maintain a public dashboard for metrics and energy data.