Eagan sustainability staff outline climate action progress, utility partnerships and outreach plan

The Sustainable Eagan Advisory Commission on April 14 heard a detailed status update from the city's sustainability coordinator on implementing Eagan's 10-year Climate Action Plan, adopted roughly one year ago and designed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions 55% by 2035.

Coordinator Catano summarized a phased, two-year implementation approach and walked commissioners through progress across eight plan sectors. Staff reported many actions are underway or complete in buildings and energy, green space, health, transportation and waste; however, several targets still lack baseline data for tracking progress.

Catano said staff is working to ‘‘build internal capacity, launch foundational programs, engage the community and prepare for scaling up in phase two.’’ On buildings and energy, the city aims to raise customer-owned renewable energy from about 1% to 10% of citywide electricity use by 2035. Catano reported 402 on-site renewable installations in Eagan and nearly 650 electricity accounts purchasing renewable energy; she said staff is developing methods to convert those counts into a citywide percentage.

The coordinator described a new utility partnership structure involving four local energy companies (two electric providers and multiple gas providers) that…