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Staff: Worcester meets four of six Climate Leader criteria; two items need work
Summary
City staff told the Green Worcester committee the city currently meets four of six state Climate Leader criteria but lacks a municipal decarbonization roadmap and a zero-emission-vehicle-first policy; an audit with Honeywell and EV charger work are underway and staff expect progress within about a year.
John O'Dell told the committee Worcester meets four of the six criteria required for the state's Climate Leader designation but lacks a municipal decarbonization roadmap and a zero-emission-vehicle-first policy.
O'Dell said the city has contracted (or is starting) an investment-grade audit with vendor Honeywell that will help produce a municipal decarbonization roadmap; that work will take roughly 8 to 10 months including contract and field review of facilities. On EV policy, he said charging infrastructure needs to be in place before a zero-emission-vehicle-first policy is fully effective, and that incentives from National Grid cover a portion of infrastructure costs but a remaining "delta" will require grants or other funding.
Committee members asked how far along the city is on charger deployment; O'Dell replied that designs exist for some key facilities and estimated "somewhere around 20%" implementation, a loose estimate. Members noted that the committee's existence and adoption of the specialized code count toward Climate Leader criteria; O'Dell said these are significant but that additional items remain to be completed before the city could claim full compliance.
