ENERGY

SSF PLAN:

Clean Renewable Energy

Fossil fuel power plants are one of the largest emitters of GHGs. Two ways to reduce emissions: reduce energy demand by increasing efficiency, and develop clean, renewable forms of energy.

Proposed Actions
The plan calls for avoiding use of nuclear power, which emits less greenhouse gas than coal-fired plants but creates issues of social justice from uranium extraction, has dangerous storage of spent fuels, would need extensive government subsidies, and spent fuel can be proliferated for nuclear weapons.

• Audit and reduce Santa Fe’s demand for energy through increased efficiency and community outreach.
  
  

• Encourage renewable energy and distributed generation including concentrated solar, photovoltaic systems, wind power, microturbines, cogeneration, and possibly larger energy distribution or storage projects that could avoid new power plants and power lines.
  
  
• Add a Solar Rights Ordinance to the City’s Development Code to ensure that investments in solar technology are protected and easily defended.
  
  
• Provide residents with low-interest loans to facilitate the purchase of renewable energy sources and equipment for buildings.
  
  
• Consider developing a regional municipal power utility generation.
  
  
• Lobby the state government to pass laws that would allow communities to aggregate their loads and choose their own power suppliers who are providing clean, renewable energy.
  
  
• Ensure that as energy rates rise, low-income families have the means to pay for basic energy needs.
  
  
• Enhance the State’s weatherization assistance for low-income families with complementary programs. Establish a minimum weatherization standard required for existing structures.