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Philly’s progress toward its carbon-neutrality goals is difficult to gauge

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Mayor Cherelle Parker leads Philadelphia at a key point in the fight against climate change. By 2030 — that is, in a mere five years — the City hopes to have slashed municipal emissions in half and power municipal buildings entirely with renewable energy. If things go according to current sustainability plans, a Philadelphia whose buildings, energy, transportation and waste sectors generate net-zero carbon emissions will be realized by 2050.

In 2019, these sectors emitted 20.5 million metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent, according to that year’s greenhouse gas inventory by the Office of Sustainability (OOS). This statistic includes what are called scope 1 and scope 2 emissions. Scope 1 emissions come from city sources, while scope 2 includes emissions from energy used within Philadelphia but produced regionally. Both types are being targeted in emissions-reduction plans.

Philadelphia’s Climate Action Playbook details actions the City is taking to reduce its carbon emissions and build climate resiliency as extreme weather and natural disasters linked to climate change become an increasing threat to the region. According to OOS program director Dom McGraw, the playbook, first released in 2021 under Mayor Jim Kenney’s administration, isn’t an action plan per se because it does not clearly outline methods for meeting the goals set.

But Kenney put forth some bold targets, and as the first year of Parker’s “safer, cleaner and greener” term wraps up, crucial deadlines are approaching. Has the Parker administration made progress toward meeting them?

Illustration by Bryan Satalino.

Energy efficiency
There are two notable OOS programs required by city charter to track the energy efficiency of commercial buildings in Philadelphia: Building Energy Benchmarking and Building Energy Performance.

McGraw says that the programs are crucial because buildings and industry account for the largest portion of carbon emissions. Buildings of certain sizes must report energy and water use data and comply with inspections and subsequent corrections — or “tune-ups” — to maximize efficiency. Fixes can be as simple as ensuring that lights are off at night or dampers are shut within an HVAC system.

The benchmarking program had a 68.8% compliance rate as of 2022, though McGraw says that that figure counts exempt buildings as noncompliant. (Industrial buildings, and those that are more than half occupied for more than half the year are exempt, according to the exemption guidelines. An exemption may be granted if benchmarking or disclosure of benchmark data would “cause exceptional hardship” or “not be in the public interest.”) McGraw explains that noncompliance in benchmarking probably results from changes in building ownership and staffing leading to a lack of awareness of the program. Additionally, less than 40% of eligible properties complied with performance inspections, but that program is only a few years old.

Noncompliance can result in fines of $2,000 or more, but McGraw told Grid that no fines have been issued yet. McGraw says that to increase compliance rates for both programs the City will conduct more educational seminars and webinars for building owners on how to file reports.

Interestingly, energy use by City buildings is trending up despite the energy use targets decreasing annually, according to Philly Stat 360, an online tool tracking progress on Parker’s campaign promises. McGraw explains that this is due to multiple factors, including increased use of air conditioning and the City “holding on to older assets longer than anticipated.”

Another contributor to the increase is the charging of electric vehicles as the City works to electrify its fleet. McGraw says that energy-efficiency metrics will be updated to account for that uptick in electricity demand.

Electricity
McGraw emphasizes that transitioning to electricity isn’t a one-size-fits-all solution for Philadelphia’s energy issues. At the current, growing level of energy use, complete electrification won’t even be possible, since the power grid is unable to generate the energy necessary to match consumers’ demands, resulting in outages.

Pennsylvania’s energy grid is a network of power lines and generators across 12 other states and Washington, D.C. The bulk of the power coming into the grid is generated by coal, gas, nuclear and hydropower. Through a purchase OOS completed in April 2024, Philadelphia contracted the Adams Solar Farm near Gettysburg, Adams County, to bring more renewables into the grid.

The groundwork for the purchase was laid in 2018, and solar now accounts for nearly 30% of the City’s energy use. And, since Adams Solar has come online, Philly has requested additional renewable energy contracts to provide some of the remaining 70% of municipal energy needs. Contract negotiations will begin in the fall, according to the Philadelphia Energy Authority. McGraw says multiple deals may need to be struck to close the energy gap and that a mix of renewables may ultimately be involved.

[The municipality is] the largest consumer of energy within the city, and buildings are our largest — by far — emitters. So if the 600 buildings that the City of Philadelphia owns end up being on all renewable electricity, that’s a huge piece.”

— Dom McGraw, Office of Sustainability

Devin McDougall, an attorney for the public interest organization Earthjustice’s Clean Energy Program, called the purchase an example of the “really important steps forward on cleaning up the City’s electricity supply” made since Parker took office.

The solar purchase advances the goal of powering municipal buildings solely with renewables by 2030, which McGraw notes is integral to the overarching push for carbon neutrality.

“[The municipality is] the largest consumer of energy within the city, and buildings are our largest — by far — emitters. So if the 600 buildings that the City of Philadelphia owns end up being on all renewable electricity, that’s a huge piece.”

Gas
One of the largest pieces of Philly’s decarbonization puzzle is the City-owned Philadelphia Gas Works (PGW). It’s the largest municipally-owned gas utility in America and boasts 500,000 customers. McGraw says there is an open line of communication between the City and PGW and that the company has been attentive to the City’s sustainability goals and its role in them.

“We can’t just abandon all users who can’t afford to fuel switch,” McGraw says. It is crucial, therefore, to maintain an open dialogue with PGW, find ways to leverage its already existing infrastructure and explore other kinds of “renewable natural gas” — “nothing’s off the table at this point.” Meanwhile, PGW has at least 50 ongoing infrastructure improvement projects to stop leakages that emit the greenhouse gas methane.

McDougall does, however, find PGW’s recent exclusion of community stakeholders a significant impediment to equitable decarbonization planning.

Unfortunately, over the last several years, PGW has repeatedly fought to exclude community groups from participating in Philadelphia Gas Commission proceedings to review PGW’s budgets.”

— Devin McDougall,Earthjustice

“Unfortunately, over the last several years, PGW has repeatedly fought to exclude community groups from participating in Philadelphia Gas Commission proceedings to review PGW’s budgets,” McDougall said in an email to Grid. “I think the Parker administration should speak out on this and should direct PGW, which the City owns, to stop fighting to exclude community groups. There are many challenging problems to solve to decarbonize PGW, but all of those problems will be solved more effectively with an inclusive, rather than exclusive, process.”

PGW details multiple pathways to decarbonization in its 2021 Business Diversification Study. One option would replace the natural gas it currently uses with various forms of decarbonized gas, namely biomethane, synthetic natural gas or hydrogen.

Russell Zerbo, an advocate for the Clean Air Council, which brings visibility to environmental causes through community outreach, told Grid that he believes PGW is the greatest barrier standing between Philly and carbon neutrality.

He calls out PGW’s interest in hydrogen in particular. Producing hydrogen is an energy-intensive process, and if that process is powered by fossil fuels, it will emit a lot of greenhouse gases — “the opposite of decarbonization,” Zerbo says.

PGW specifically mentions hydrogen produced through the “electrolysis of water powered by renewable energy,” which is currently very expensive. Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Delaware could pick up federal funds for the Mid-Atlantic Clean Hydrogen Hub (MACH2) for renewables-powered hydrogen production, but this begs a question about energy-use priorities.

“If we had that much renewable energy [to power MACH2], why would we use it to make hydrogen?” Zerbo asks, conceding that such hydrogen production could make sense in a world with excess renewable energy. “If Pennsylvania was 100% powered on renewable energy — and right now, it’s closer to zero — then we would have extra to make hydrogen with.”

The jury’s still out
The City’s Climate Action Playbook will be updated in the near future, McGraw says. He characterizes the update, which will detail the work done during Parker’s first year, as a positive sign that the City is keeping tabs on its sustainability progress, promises and goals to keep them in view.

“How many climate action plans that have existed haven’t had multiple versions?” he asks.

Since the playbook’s release four years ago, McGraw says climate action requirements “have become more stringent.”

“Bringing something that’s going to be more aligned with what other cities are doing is the goal,” he says of the update.

The data analysis that will tell whether timeline-based goals are on track lags a few years — the latest numbers being crunched are for 2022, McGraw says. It will be only after 2025 ends, then, that analysts will be able to definitively determine whether, say, this year saw a 25% cut in citywide CO2 pollution from the 2006 baseline. But McGraw told Grid that the data he has seen has shown improvement and that pollution is trending down, a positive development reflected in the latest edition of the Municipal Energy Master Plan.

McGraw is not alone in his optimism, even with the information available being incomplete. In a March 2024 testimony responding to City Council’s resolution to investigate Philadelphia’s progress on carbon neutrality goals, OOS interim director Elizabeth Lankenau, said that, through many combined efforts, municipal emissions have been reduced “by 44% since 2016, well ahead of schedule to meet the 2030 goal of a 50% reduction.”

And in related good news, in August 2024 the City received a $1.3 million energy efficiency grant through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. Part of that money will fund clean jobs training, bolstering what McGraw says is another critical component of the energy transition: a workforce trained to do the labor.

OOS is “looking at how the clean energy transition can support everyone and make the city of Philadelphia safer, cleaner [and] greener with economic opportunity for all,” McGraw says. “I feel we’re on a really good target.”

This special section is a part of Every Voice, Every Vote, a collaborative project managed by The Lenfest Institute for Journalism. The William Penn Foundation provides lead support for Every Voice, Every Vote in 2024 and 2025 with additional funding from The Lenfest Institute for Journalism, Comcast NBC Universal, The John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, Henry L. Kimelman Family Foundation, Judy and Peter Leone, Arctos Foundation, Wyncote Foundation, 25th Century Foundation, Dolfinger-McMahon Foundation, and Philadelphia Health Partnership. To learn more about the project and view a full list of supporters, visit www.everyvoice-everyvote.org. Editorial content is created independently of the project’s donors.

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