- Target: 100% renewable electricity by 2035
- Status: In progress
- RES: Energy efficiency measures, and onsite and community solar
- Implementation: The City Council of Atlanta in Georgia approved a green energy plan in 2019 geared towards the achieving 100% renewable electricity by 2035. The goal is to entirely replace coal, natural gas and nuclear energy as the primary energy sources of electricity with renewable sources. This will be achieved in an incremental manner. The city will begin by using less energy, achieved through energy efficiency measures such as insulating old homes and installing energy-efficient lights and better cooling and heating systems. It is estimated that this may achieve a reduction in consumption as much as 30%. The energy plan will require more solar panel installations on homes, commercial buildings and at utility scale solar farms. Investments will be needed in battery storage for solar energy as well as renewable-energy credits from outside the state to offset coal and gas power still coming from the local grid. The plan will more crucially require the support of of key players such as the state utility and the state’s conservative Legislature. Leading figures are however building political coalition for green energy by focusing on jobs, which the energy plan estimates will result in 8,000 new positions, as well as generate economic development for the entire state. The plan would help low-income families, where solar panels would provide lower costs and price stability. (Source: theworld.org/stories/2019-04-15/how-atlanta-plans-get-100-green-energy-2035)
- Population: 498,715 (2020)
- Area: 350 km2
- Link: www.100atl.com
- © Paul Brennan