Pasadena’s pathway to carbon-free electricity by the end of 2030 is outlined through a comprehensive Optimized Strategic Plan (OSP) which you can view above. PWP is seeking your feedback during the OSP's public comment period, from October 6 through October 27.

To learn more about the technical reports guiding the OSP, visit the OSP page on PWP's website. If you have any questions or need clarification about the Draft OSP, please schedule a time to meet and discuss with a PWP staff member.

Pasadena is rapidly expanding its use of renewable energy and battery storage to meet the City’s goal of 100% carbon-free electricity and is well positioned to reach the State’s goal, 100% Renewable and Zero- Carbon by 2045, 15 years ahead. Since 2019, we’ve committed to over 200 megawatts (MW) of renewable energy and 50 MW of battery storage, with more on the way—including a 25 MW battery at the Glenarm Power Plant. Once these projects are online, they’ll meet over 75% of our energy needs with clean power on an hourly basis.

To close the remaining gap, we’ll need to add up to 375 MW of additional renewables and 175 MW of storage by the end of 2030. These resources will come from both regional projects and local installations in Pasadena. While we have historically leveraged and will continue to leverage our membership in the Southern California Public Power Authority (SCPPA) to facilitate procurement efforts, we also plan to conduct various independent RFPs tailored to our specific resource and timing needs.

Our plan also calls for an aggressive acceleration of the development of solar and storage in the City to help relieve constraints on infrastructure, reduce reliance on the Glenarm Power Plant and improve resilience. Achieving this outcome requires measures like:

• Focus on near-term efforts to reduce barriers to customer adoption of solar and storage and increase public awareness.

• Create processes to identify, study and select municipally-owned properties as sites for solar or storage development in the City.

• Continue to support and work directly with large customers to develop clean energy projects in the City.

Enabling load flexibility and demand response through customer programs and rate structures is a critical element of the Optimized Strategic Plan. Maximizing the potential for these resources requires advanced metering infrastructure (AMI or “smart meters”). We will:

• Continue to develop relationships with large commercial customers and engage them in demand response programs.

• Develop a transportation electrification strategy to continue to develop a strong charging network in the City and enable managed charging as a resource.

• Design demand response programs to help customers shift their energy usage to non-peak times.

OSP technical studies have shown that it’s impossible to maintain the same level of reliability our community has come to expect and meet Resource Adequacy compliance requirements if Glenarm Power Plant is replaced with carbon-free technologies that are available today. Accordingly, we are planning for a path forward that preserves Glenarm as an aid for reliability until a longer-term solution can be identified. Three potential pathways identified to limit carbon-emissions from Glenarm include:

• Transmission expansion

• Local emerging technology options

• Hydrogen conversion

Current and future efforts to upgrade Pasadena’s power infrastructure are complementary to the changes in our electricity supply. We seek to optimize the electric system to meet the changing needs and preferences of our community. Several major internal infrastructure projects currently underway include:

• Advanced metering infrastructure (AMI) that enables time-of-use rates (TOU) and allows us to send price signals and coordinate with our customers to encourage behavioral shifts in consumption to benefit the grid and carbon-free objectives.

• Replace underground 35kV sub-transmission lines that were originally installed in the 1970s to transmit power from one side of the City to the other.

• Expand our interconnection to the California Independent System Operator (CAISO).

Our plan embraces technological innovation and anticipates that as emerging technologies reach commercial readiness, they will create new opportunities to build out our carbon-free portfolio while mitigating costs. As a result, we intend to take advantage of opportunities created by technological innovation such as:

• Long duration energy storage (LDES): we will proactively identify opportunities to support and develop pilot long-duration storage projects.

• Hydrogen: the conversion of Glenarm Power Plant to operate using green hydrogen fuel is one of several long-term options to eliminate combustion of natural gas.

• Other emerging technologies: a wide range of other carbon-free technologies are currently in various stages of research, development, and early deployment, including advanced nuclear, enhanced geothermal, and offshore wind.

As a publicly-owned utility, we are committed to fostering community engagement and developing key partnerships with our large commercial customers. We are taking key steps to promote education and awareness of the City’s goals and the corresponding opportunities they create for our community through public outreach and marketing campaigns.