Prescott City councilors back citizen working group to pursue energy savings and resilience projects

Prescott — On Jan. 14, 2025, Prescott City Council directed staff to pursue a citizen working group to research and advance sustainability and resiliency projects after a presentation from local advocates and technical experts.

The request came during a study session presentation by Patrick Grady, board president of the Quad City Climate Collaborative, and board member Kristin Law. Grady told the council, “We’re here today to talk about the potential of creating a citizen advisory working group to address sustainability and resiliency.” The presenters asked the council to support either (1) a formal advisory committee to the council or (2) a working group that would report to city administration; council members expressed majority support for the second option.

The proposal is framed as a volunteer, unpaid body that would “augment city resources” and assist staff in implementing priorities in the city’s 2025 general plan and the city’s strategic plan, particularly items tied to the natural environment and energy use. Grady and Law said the group would focus on research and fact-based recommendations, energy audits and efficiency projects, grant research and applications, and regional coordination on wildfire and water concerns.

Why it matters: Council members repeatedly tied the request to the city’s two planning documents and to potential cost savings. The presentation cited Schneider Electric’s energy audits as an example; presenters and councilors referenced Prescott Valley’s use of a Schneider program and a reported lifetime savings “just under $12,000,000” from its phase 1 implementation. The presenters also noted an example from Flagstaff of an energy program that achieved “42% annual savings in utilities” across water, electric and gas. City staff later confirmed the city spends about $4,600,000 a year on utilities for power, gas and water.

Council discussion focused on organizational structure and next steps. Several councilors said a working group (option 2) would be less burdensome to staff than a formal committee and better suited to writing grants and executing discrete projects. Mayor (identified in the transcript as “Mayor”) said, “I think option 2 is something I could support.” Councilmember Rusing, who introduced the item, emphasized the group’s long development and local expertise and urged staff to use the volunteers to help implement the general plan.

Concerns and scope: Councilmembers raised regional coordination and the risk that issues like wildfire or watershed health cross municipal boundaries. Councilmember Montoya suggested a regional structure or intergovernmental representatives may produce stronger outcomes; presenters said parts of the Quad City Climate Collaborative’s work have included stakeholders from Prescott Valley and Chino Valley. Councilmembers and presenters also discussed matching projects to measurable deliverables — for example, targeted energy-audit follow-up projects where savings can be tracked before expanding to broader policy work.

Next steps and staff role: City management said the council’s comments constitute a direction to pursue sustainability activities that drive cost savings and improve operations. Staff outlined two pathways: a formal advisory committee (which would advise council and be subject to open-meeting laws) or a community-created working group that staff would partner with (which could ease meeting-law constraints). The council asked staff to return a recommended approach that reflects the council’s interest in option 2; staff and presenters agreed to begin coordinating on near-term, measurable projects and grant opportunities.

Context: Presenters pointed to deliverables in the draft 2025 general plan — including 50+ resiliency and sustainability strategies and five energy goals such as municipal energy audits and accommodation of electric vehicle charging infrastructure. The presenters also named local and regional groups that have carried similar work, including Prescott Valley’s Schneider project, Flagstaff’s program, Yavapai Firewise, and CWAG (a citizens water group). Tom Rusing, speaking from the public, urged regional collaboration and suggested the council revisit the approach in a year to assess effectiveness.

Ending: The council signaled majority support for forming a citizen working group that would report to staff and pursue prioritized, measurable projects. Staff will follow up with the council on an implementation plan and on how the working group will be chartered, how grants would be handled, and which staff liaisons would oversee specific project work.