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Arlington is rolling out a series of green initiatives, pouring millions into revamping its public infrastructure.
However, climate activists caution that the county’s current strategy might fall short of achieving its goal of countywide carbon neutrality by 2050, as it addresses only a tiny fraction of the county’s overall emissions.
In its most recently adopted budget, the Arlington County Board dedicated approximately $3.5 million to installing additional solar panels, electric vehicle (EV) charging stations, and home energy efficiency programs aimed at low-income residents. The county is also contemplating investing well over $100 million more into other green initiatives over the next decade.
But some critics contend that this approach misses the mark by not adequately engaging and supporting businesses and residents who are responsible for the vast majority of the county’s emissions.
In interviews with ARLnow, homeowners bemoaned the complicated and costly processes of installing their own solar panels and EV chargers. As the county focuses on enhancing its infrastructure, advocates are calling for a greater commitment to encouraging and helping residents to adopt green upgrades.
In particular, critics argue that the team of eight employees at the Arlington Initiative to Rethink Energy (AIRE) is insufficient for the ambitious goals set by the county. They believe that without substantial investment to expand this team to better support property owners, achieving carbon neutrality by 2050 may be infeasible.
“Everybody’s got a role to play… nobody can throw up their hands and say it’s too much for me, it’s too much for my county. There are things that we can do,” Joan McIntyre, vice chair of the Climate Change, Energy and Environment Commission (C2E2), told ARLnow. “At the end of the day, it’s going to be communities rebuilding themselves into a much cleaner, environmental, zero carbon community and transformation at the community level.”
Arlington’s vision for a cleaner future
Arlington County has made many notable steps toward reducing carbon emissions in recent years.
For nearly two decades, AIRE has been the primary force guiding Arlington’s green agenda and ensuring the county meets its carbon emission reduction goals. Last year, the office reached a critical milestone from the 2019 Community Energy Plan — a roadmap for how the county plans to achieve its climate action goals — by switching all county government operations to renewable energy. About 80% of this was supported by carbon offsets.
In addition to achieving carbon neutrality by 2050, the plan targets 100% renewable electricity across the county by 2035.
AIRE has also spearheaded numerous other projects. It helped cut energy consumption in county facilities by 23% since 2009, and oversaw the installation of more than 900 hundred photovoltaic solar power systems across residential commercial and county buildings. Moreover, it aided Arlington Public Schools in obtaining grants for electric school buses, constructed dozens of public EV chargers and transitioned a substantial portion of the county’s non-emergency sedan fleet to all-electric.
Between 2007 and 2016, the county estimates it reduced its total carbon emissions from 2.7 million metric tons of CO2 to 2 million annually, a 24% drop. AIRE is still gathering data on Arlington County’s recent carbon emissions reductions, which program director Rich Dooley says will be ready sometime this summer or early fall.
“We’re planning on using both county as well as community emissions [data]… and again, that data is still rolling in. It’s going to take until sometime this spring before we get all those data sets,” Dooley said in February.
McIntyre and other activists commend the county’s progress in shrinking its carbon footprint. But they point out that recent reductions represent less than 5% of total emissions within Arlington County.
“C2E2 and local environmental organizations are concerned that much of the earlier momentum for engaging residents and businesses on energy performance in buildings has been lost at a time when more, not less, engagement is needed to rapidly reduce [greenhouse gas emissions] in the private sector, which account for 96% of the total emissions [countywide],” McIntyre said.
Arlington has phased out or paused some older clean energy initiatives like its home energy rebate pilot and Green Home Choice program. However, the county continues to support various other initiatives aimed at both businesses and residents, including its solar co-op, Green Building Density Incentive and Commercial Property Assessed Clean Energy (C-PACE) programs.
Mike Moon, COO of Arlington’s Dept. of Environmental Services, told ARLnow that the County Board’s recent $3.5 million funding boost will support key electrification projects, including the addition of 72 new public charging stations, 1,799 new photovoltaic solar systems, and a pilot program to improve energy efficiency in buildings for low-income residents.
Moreover, County Manager Mark Schwartz has proposed funneling $135 million into electrifying the ART bus fleet and building up bus infrastructure, with even more funding set aside for adding additional solar panels and EV chargers at public facilities.
“We’re going to have to make some significant investments, and that’s what the Board is doing at this point,” Moon said.
County officials also expect that a large portion of the funding for these programs will come from various federal agencies, such as the Environmental Protection Agency and the Department of Transportation, which have already invested billions in greenifying the country’s infrastructure via the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and Inflation Reduction Act.
Even so, many local environmental activists are skeptical that these initiatives alone will suffice.
They contend that to achieve its long-term objectives, the county must increase staffing levels to bolster community participation in local, state, and federal environmental programs; raise awareness of available incentives; and offer technical assistance to homeowners transitioning from fossil fuel technologies.
“EcoAction Arlington, Sierra Club Potomac River Group, and Faith Alliance for Climate Solutions have been advocating for several years for the county to increase funding to develop and expand programs that will educate, incentivize and encourage the private sector,” McIntyre said, “creating, in essence, a ‘one-stop-shop’ to assist homeowners, businesses, and other property owners in navigating the complexities related to improving energy efficiency, electrification, and otherwise decarbonizing their lifestyles.”
The trouble with going green
In interviews with ARLnow, several homeowners in Arlington and Alexandria reported that high costs and logistical barriers often hinder attempts to make environmental upgrades to their homes.
This issue, they said, is especially challenging for residents of multi-family dwellings like condos and apartment buildings.
Maggie Davis, a resident and board member of a 34-unit condominium community just south of Rosslyn, has recently redoubled her advocacy for green energy solutions like solar panels and EV charging stations in her building. She was optimistic that recent state and federal legislation offering tax incentives for clean energy equipment purchases and energy-efficient home upgrades would make these changes more feasible.
Davis quickly discovered, though, that the process remains both complex and costly.
“There is a desire among some of my neighbors that are committed to green energy that would love to see us move in this direction,” she told ARLnow. “But then we’re stuck with that reality of we only have so many resources. So, I don’t see us moving forward with solar panels without there being some sort of incentive or way to help get over both that initial installation cost and upgrades.”
Davis says that if her community wanted to add solar panels or charging stations to their 1950s-era condo building, they would need to upgrade the electrical panel and wiring and then hire a certified installer — a substantial undertaking.
“It would be likely be infeasible to do that huge of a wiring upgrade for every unit because it’s going to be a big cost to get all the pieces together,” she said.
Davis sought help through county webpages, which advertise services for residents interested in switching to solar through the solar co-op and Local Energy Alliance programs.
But not too long into her search, Davis encountered difficulties in identifying which companies service the Arlington area, understanding the necessary preparatory work, and figuring out how the installations would be financed. Despite her best efforts, she says the process became increasingly confusing to the point where it almost didn’t seem worth it.
“I think there’s a lot of residents that want to make those steps, and it’s just a lot of information to try and sift through,” she said, “especially if you’re trying to separate single-family homes versus multi-unit buildings… more single-family homeowners in the country that have the resources to do this.”
Although Davis eventually connected with county staff, she believes the county should provide more accessible support to simplify the process for all residents.
“Being a condo owner, getting some support and how to navigate these conversations for a condominium association would be helpful,” she said. “I think the county has some good staff and are doing a lot of work. It’s just having resources of people that have successfully done that with their condo association — kind of how do you get everyone on board, because it is a big investment.”
In fairness, this issue isn’t unique to Arlington. Don Burke, a resident of a 400-unit condominium in Alexandria, said he encountered similar obstacles when trying to install EV charging stations within his own residential complex.
In Burke’s experience, installing an EV charging station in a multi-unit dwelling is a lengthy and complicated process, involving numerous hurdles such as securing funding, obtaining permit approvals, and overcoming resistance from the condo association.
Fortunately for Burke, the City of Alexandria has designated an EV planner to provide resources and guidance directly to condominiums to help get projects “across the finish line.”
But even with this assistance, Burke said adopting renewable and sustainable energy practices in urban areas is “mind-numbingly hard.”
“And so every step along that way, that human being is having to expend all of this cognitive energy to do this new thing and that is a lot of energy that they don’t have time for,” he said. “They have kids, and they have a mortgage, and they have a job, and they have health care issues.”
Proponents call for more funding
Environmental advocates acknowledge the complexity of cutting through red tape and providing meaningful financial incentives. But they suggest redirecting and expanding staff to serve as community ambassadors working with homeowners, businesses, and community leaders to facilitate countywide action.
“It’s a staffing issue, some it is… a little bit of a funding issue,” McIntyre said. “But again, I think working with these groups and working with community leaders on this issues is a way of amplifying the message and getting it out into the neighborhoods.”
Dooley recognizes that installing EV chargers and solar panels can be challenging for homeowners. Still, he highlighted that the county has achieved a SolSmart Bronze designation from the U.S. Department of Energy, which offers technical assistance to help local governments adopt best practices for expanding solar energy use.
“The County is currently assessing how it can improve its SolSmart designation to SolSmart Gold,” Dooley said.
He also pointed out that the AIRE team hosted three webinars last fall where experts covered different aspects of EV charging for single-family homes, multifamily buildings, and commercial office buildings.
Dean Amel, chair of the Sierra Club’s Potomac River Group, still thinks the county can do more.
“Condo associations, civic associations, landlords, and businesses all have different needs, and it can get complicated,” he said. “It’s a situation where one size doesn’t fit all, and that’s where the county can help by providing resources and facilitating necessary permits.”
One problem, Amel argues, is that AIRE’s eight person team is not sufficient to undertake a more extensive public engagement role.
“It’s a small group, and it’s been kind of understaffed, and they’ve lost some really good people in recent years, and so that staff has to be built up,” he said.
Even as Arlington has injected more funding into environmental initiatives, AIRE’s budget has remained relatively consistent over the years. It currently hovers just below $3 million for fiscal year 2025.
Without more funding, McIntyre and Amel say it will be challenging for AIRE to engage residents and businesses in climate action effectively.
“It’s a leadership issue, and it really has to come from the very top,” McIntyre said. “So what’s the direction coming from the top, and to what extent are they willing to prioritize this in the budget.”
Photo (middle) via Myenergi/Unsplash
