Palo Alto committee begins planning 2026–27 climate work plan, prioritizes transport, buildings and resilience

Palo Alto’s Sustainability & Climate Action Committee on Thursday opened a high-level kickoff to develop its 2026–27 climate work plan, with staff and committee members urging sharper focus on active transportation, multifamily electrification, public EV charging and reliability planning as funding and regulatory conditions change.

Assistant Director for Climate Action Jonathan Auvenshine said the meeting was intended to “kick off discussion on our 2026 through 2027 work planning efforts” and to solicit committee priorities. He told the panel the kickoff was meant to be “very high level.”

The committee framed the work plan around three primary topic areas: transportation (walking, biking and transit), buildings (residential and nonresidential electrification) and an updated approach to carbon neutrality and removal. Staff reported that most items in the 2023–25 SCAP work plan are on track, highlighted recent pilots (heat pump water heaters and EV charging programs) and said new proposals will be informed by studies now underway, including an EV charger needs assessment and a funding study for large-scale electrification programs.

Why it matters: Committee members said Palo Alto must choose projects that deliver the most greenhouse gas reductions per dollar while remaining feasible in a shifting political and fiscal environment. Councilmember Luke urged the group to “focus more about cost effectiveness and tons of greenhouse gas reductions per dollar,” and to make goals and work items understandable and actionable for the public.

What staff presented and what committee members emphasized - Transportation: Staff noted opportunities to expand biking and walking, increase transit and accelerate EV charging access, particularly for multifamily residents. Auvenshine summarized the mobility goal as raising combined walking, biking and transit mode share for local work trips from 19% to 40% by 2030. Committee members asked staff to disaggregate that target (walking/biking vs. transit) and to accelerate work on curbside and public EV charging, commuter chargers and a multifamily charging strategy. - Buildings: Staff summarized recent work on single-family electrification and pilots for advanced heat-pump water heaters. Members urged stronger commercial-building programs (rooftop HVAC, commercial retrofits) and discussed financing options and legal limits for using rate and grant revenue. Committee members pressed staff to plan for the Bay Area Air Quality Management District’s incoming regulations, including the January 2027 prohibition on new NOx-emitting water heaters. - Carbon neutrality and local removal: Staff said carbon removal and local offsets are limited and will require more focused planning and funding strategy. Committee members asked staff to develop a clearer path to the council on how carbon neutrality goals intersect with near-term reduction priorities. - Reliability and resilience: Staff and committee members flagged microgrids, battery storage and site-specific resilience investments as both climate and public-safety priorities. Director of Public Works Brad Eggleston previewed related reliability work and noted coordination with the Northern California Power Agency (NCPA) on shared solar and storage projects.

Funding and regulatory uncertainty Committee members repeatedly noted uncertainty in state and federal funding and regulation. Chair Baker and other members said federal grant and tax-credit prospects were shifting, increasing the need to emphasize cost-effective, locally scalable programs. Staff reported they are modeling low/medium/high scenarios for electrification demand and supply, and that several utility-scale contract proposals will go to full council for approval.

Public comments and community concerns Public commenters urged stronger active-transportation investment, more visible outreach (events, e-bike test rides), and better bike parking. One commenter said e-bike test rides were “almost 95% effective in getting people to purchase,” and another urged the city to prioritize local solar+storage and virtual power plant approaches to increase resilience. A separate public commenter raised concern that the city was proposing to use cap-and-trade funds for a one-time gas-bill rebate; staff and committee members noted the issue will be discussed further at upcoming finance and climate committee meetings.

Next steps Staff will convene a working group, gather public and stakeholder feedback, incorporate findings from current studies (EV charger needs assessment, funding study, reliability/resilience modeling) and return seasonal updates beginning this summer, with a fuller draft work plan in the fall for committee and council review.

Ending: Committee members said they want the next rounds of work to include cost-effectiveness and scalability metrics, clearer, disaggregated mode-share KPIs for transportation, and a timetable for resilience investments and electrification pilots.