Council receives updated community energy plan aiming for 12.25 metric tons per capita by 2030

Joel Davenport and Andrew Reynolds of the Holland Board of Public Works presented an update to the city’s Community Energy Plan and the strategic development team’s recommendation.

Davenport said the plan’s original baseline was about 24 metric tons per capita and that community progress has moved toward roughly 16 metric tons per capita. He described five primary levers — the electric portfolio, building energy consumption, transportation, education and carbon offsets — and explained that the updated interim target is 12.25 metric tons per capita by 2030. "That 2021 strategic development team actually pushed that a little further and really tried to do a lot of that work right away," Davenport said, noting the team’s ongoing cadence to reset strategies every few years.

Andrew Reynolds summarized 20 strategies in the meeting packet, noting many are ongoing community efforts and some are new. Council members asked how incentivized electrification fits with current emissions from electricity generation; Reynolds and Davenport said electrification is meant to be targeted where it reduces overall emissions (for example, efficient heat pumps replacing gas furnaces) and becomes cleaner as the electric portfolio adds renewables.

Council moved to receive the strategic development team recommendation; the motion carried on roll call. City Manager Keith Van Beek and several councilmembers praised the long-term approach and the recurring participation of community volunteers on the strategic team.

Next steps: staff will continue implementation of the strategies, update the plan’s progress on a multi-year cadence and report back to council at future intervals.