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Olympia climate director outlines program progress, funding needs and next steps
Summary
City climate director Pamela Braff told the Olympia City Council the Energize Olympia program has installed 228 heat pumps and other measures, staff aim to scale programs but need sustained funding; councilors pressed staff on measurement, regional coordination and the home energy score policy set for March consideration.
Pamela Braff, the City of Olympia's director of climate programs, briefed the City Council at a Feb. 10 study session on the scope and results of the city's climate work, highlighting program achievements, recent grant awards and remaining needs to meet the city's net‑zero goals.
Braff said the Energize Olympia program (now Energize Thurston) has run three years of subsidized installations and reported 228 heat‑pump installations and 21 heat‑pump water heaters, with about 61% of installations fully or partially subsidized; staff estimated those installations will avoid nearly 3,000 metric tons of CO2e over the next 15 years. The program used roughly $200,000 in Community Development Block Grant funds early on, and Braff summarized additional funding as nearly $1.3 million in state and federal grants plus $620,000 in leveraged savings and nearly $1 million in private investment through partially self‑funded installations.
"This…
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