Wilsonville planners review greenhouse‑gas inventory, scenarios and draft low‑carbon actions

Wilsonville city staff and consultants presented a greenhouse‑gas inventory and scenario modeling during a Planning Commission work session on Jan. 18, 2025, outlining options the city will model as it develops a climate action plan.

Kerry Rappel, the city’s natural resources manager, introduced the project and said the consultant team from SSG has completed a community and municipal inventory and two modeled futures — a business‑as‑usual (BAU) and a business‑as‑planned (BAP) scenario — and will later model a low‑carbon scenario if the commission identifies which actions to include.

The inventory and modeling team said transportation is the largest sector of energy use and emissions. Hilary Beatty, an SSG consultant, summarized the inventory: “Transportation accounts for nearly half, or 48 percent, of the city's energy consumption,” and she reported transportation produced about 46 percent of Wilsonville’s greenhouse‑gas emissions in 2021. Commercial buildings accounted for roughly 22 percent of energy use (24 percent of emissions), residential buildings 18 percent of energy use (15 percent of emissions), industry 12 percent of energy use (14 percent of emissions), and solid waste about 1 percent of emissions, mostly from landfill decomposition.

SSG projected two futures. Under the BAU scenario — where change is limited to population and economic growth, fuel‑efficiency standards and climate warming — community emissions rise about 19 percent, from…