Sunnyvale staff report mixed progress on Climate Action Playbook 2028; highlight EV events, bike lanes and Earth Day turnout

Christina Raby, staff liaison and environmental engineering coordinator for Sunnyvale’s Environmental Services Department, presented the annual progress update on the Climate Action Playbook (Game Plan 2028) at the Sustainability Commission meeting on April 21, 2025. The presentation reviewed FY2023–24 activity across energy, buildings, transportation, waste, resilience and community engagement moves.

The update summarized accomplishments and metrics across several strategies. Raby said Silicon Valley clean-energy partner SBCE invested about $3.6 billion in renewable projects in 2023 and that 96% of Sunnyvale households and businesses receive clean energy through SBCE. She reported 101 heat-pump water heaters and 30 heat-pump HVAC installations tracked through rebate programs in FY23–24, and about $779,000 in rebates claimed through SBCE programs.

Raby told commissioners the city continued to advance active-transportation work. Public Works listed about 43 active projects valued collectively at roughly $110,000,000; staff reported about 90 miles of proposed bikeway projects and 34 miles implemented through FY23–24, including 4.2 miles of new bike facilities such as a shared-use path on Caribbean Drive and bike lanes on Sunnyvale and Indian Wells Avenues.

On micromobility, staff said the Bird scooter pilot completed in FY23–24 and city staff were evaluating whether to continue the program with Bird or another vendor. Raby also described the Drive Electric outreach series (five webinars and four in-person ride-and-drive events) that drew hundreds of participants and 525 test drives.

The presentation highlighted demonstration and capital projects: bidding and award for the Lakewood Branch Library construction was completed in May 2024; City Hall’s Civic Center campus opened to staff in March 2023 and served as the site for a large Earth Day event; and the City Council allocated $40 million in 2022 to redesign and build a new all-electric Fire Station 2 and training center, with consultants contracted in December 2023 and design work starting February 2024.

Staff also reported work on green stormwater infrastructure: staff estimate about 1,520 acres of GSI installations in the community to date and said GSI language has been incorporated into specific plans adopted since the city’s 2019 GSI plan. The Department of Public Safety completed a severe-weather annex to the Emergency Operations Plan in April 2024 to address climate-related heat, flooding and air-quality events, Raby said.

Raby reviewed the city’s engagement and communications metrics: the Environmental Services Instagram and Facebook accounts showed rising followers and engagement in FY23–24, and the library hosted 27 sustainability-themed programs with a combined audience of about 845 people. On greenhouse-gas accounting, staff noted the 2021 inventory (published August 2023) showed emissions 33% below 1990 levels, while the 2022 inventory (published March 2024) showed emissions 26% below 1990 levels.

Raby described the city’s participation in the federal Climate Pollution Reduction Grants program (CPRG). Sunnyvale joined a regional Phase 1 planning grant led by Santa Clara County and later submitted a joint Phase 2 implementation application for a Public Facility Resiliency Implementation Project requesting just under $5 million to decarbonize and add resilient power at critical public facilities, including an electrified microgrid for Fire Station 2 and electrification of the Clean Water Center administrative building. Raby said the joint regional application was not selected for implementation funds and noted few California agencies received implementation awards nationally.

Raby closed by noting outreach and education highlights, including an “Electrify Your Life” event series that reached about 95 attendees and a Cool Cooktop (induction) kit program at the library that recorded 324 uses since inception and has served about 94 households as of FY23–24. On Earth Day, staff reported strong participation and reduced event waste: staff later summarized the Civic Center Earth Day event as drawing about 2,500–3,000 attendees and generating about 1 cubic yard of garbage, down from roughly 2 cubic yards previously.

The commission asked for clarifications about the GSI acreage target, which moves were delayed or off track and the difficulty of capturing total heat-pump installations (staff said rebate-tracking by SBCE captures part of installs but not all installs citywide). Raby and other staff said some moves were pending staffing capacity, and that newly hired positions funded in the budget should improve implementation capacity in the coming year.

Commissioners and staff said they will return additional detail on delayed and off-track moves in the next annual update and follow up with partners (for example, SBCE) on rebate and installation denominators.