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<br />New Brighton Energy Action Plan 1 <br />INTRODUCTION <br />New Brighton has been making strides toward sustainability and clean energy in several ways, including <br />city facility upgrades, establishing an environmental commission, and supporting renewable energy. <br />Highlights of New Brighton’s sustainability work include: <br />• The City of New Brighton is a Step 5, Green Step City achieved through benchmarking public <br />buildings, upgrading the lighting in public buildings and outdoor spaces to efficient and timed <br />LEDs, adopting efficient fleet vehicles and management software, updating zoning codes that <br />encourage resilient residential and commercial/industrial growth, adopting sustainable <br />purchasing policies, and engaging the public to ensure equity in the city’s sustainability work. <br />• A citizen-led Parks, Recreation and Environmental Commission tasked with providing input to <br />the City Council on environmental initiatives and practices. Through successful engagement on <br />sustainability projects, the city has a contact list of residents who are interested in sustainability <br />topics and projects. <br />• The City has installed a number of large solar arrays on municipal buildings and is working to <br />install electric vehicle charging stations at more than ten City facilities. <br />• There is strong community support within New Brighton for sustainable and resilient climate <br />efforts and the City’s leadership is responsive to that momentum. <br />This Energy Action Plan was developed in tandem with a broader Climate Action Plan that will both <br />guide the City’s sustainability projects and make a case for acquiring available funding for those efforts. <br />Why We Want an Energy Action Plan <br />The City of New Brighton wanted to create a standalone Energy Action Plan in addition to the climate <br />plan to take on one of the larger carbon-emitting sectors within the city with greater attention to the <br />community’s unique needs, greater access and attention to energy use and utility data, and to aid in <br />accessing specific funding for energy projects by having documented strategies to guide their work. The <br />City also wanted to build a stronger relationship with Xcel Energy and access Partners in Energy program <br />resources, expertise and community connections that are provided through its offerings and <br />partnerships. These planning and implementation resources and access to energy expertise can help the