Board to Consider Hearings for Energy Plan

The Arlington County Board is expected to vote this weekend to hold public hearings on the county’s proposed Community Energy Plan.

A draft of the ambitious plan calls for Arlington to significantly decrease energy consumption and reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 through a series of six goals and 14 policies. The goals include:

• “Buildings will be up to 60 percent more energy efficient, saving residents, tenants, and business owners on their energy bills.”
• “District energy systems will provide less expensive, more efficient cooling, heating and power to Arlingtonians in the highest-density development corridors.”
• “Arlington will be a ‘solar leader’ by deploying 160 megawatts of solar photovoltaics, which will supply enough electricity to power 40,000 homes.”
• “Arlington’s transportation infrastructure will be refined and expanded, providing residents and workers with more travel choices.”
• “Arlington County Government will lead by example, reducing energy costs by improving fleet and building efficiencies.”
• “Arlingtonians will rethink their energy use, taking advantage of new technologies to reduce personal energy consumption.”

Among the individual policies are:

• Enforcing higher energy efficiency standards in the building code (requires state legislative approval)
• Facilitating the creation and use of a district energy system with more than 100 megawatts of combined heat and power generation
• Reducing County government CO2 emissions by 76% by 2050 through various strategies
• Reducing automobile pollution by buying more efficient vehicles for the county fleet and requiring more efficient taxis
• Deploying modern traffic control technologies to reduce vehicle idling times
• Providing public recognition of people and organizations that help Arlington reach its energy goals.

The plan, county officials say, would improve Arlington’s business competitiveness, provide energy security, and help the environment.

The County Board is expected to vote this weekend to advertise a series of two public hearings which will be held in advance of Board consideration of the plan itself. The Board’s agenda item calls for the Planning Commission to hold a public hearing on June 3, and for the County Board to hold a hearing on June 15.