City Projects in Energy Efficiency and Conservation
Sustainability/Energy Program Plans
Adopting an energy management plan is a crucial action for cities and counties that want to insulate themselves from rising energy costs. An energy management plan may be part of a larger climate action plan or a sustainability plan, allowing local governments to address all of the interrelated issues they must face, from water scarcity to traffic congestion to land-use and zoning laws. Because energy issues permeate all other facets of city and county planning, creating a plan that places energy management within the context of the other issues is a smart approach. Click here for examples.
Summary of steps in creating your energy plan:
- Conduct an energy audit to determine current and future energy needs based on population projections.
- Establish achievable goals for conservation in your community. You might use a task force to brainstorm specific conservation steps the community could take.
- Develop a draft. It is important to consider issues beyond energy when creating your energy plan to be sure that you are not creating problems in other arenas such as economic development, public health or land use. Preferably your plan will also help to address problems relating to some of these other issues.
- Solicit comments from anyone affected by the energy policy, including key departments within your local government.
- Finalize your plan and create mechanisms for implementation and evaluation of results. Identify key players for implementation and evaluation, clearly defining roles and responsibilities and consequences for not staying on target. The plan will not help you if it sits on a shelf collecting dust.
Examples
Read our Local Governments Best Practices Guide for ideas on planning an energy program.