Atlanta City Council creates trust fund for clean energy programs

Last year, a citywide study found that residents in neighborhoods west and south of downtown are most vulnerable to weather events fueled by climate change, like flash floods and extreme temperatures.

According to the study, residents in these regions face the disproportionate financial impact of weather disasters and the daily struggle to stay cool.

Atlanta was the first city in the country to conduct a block-by-block heat vulnerability study, said Council Member Liliana Bakhtiari, who championed the climate fund bill.

“One of the things that was quickly identified during the process was the energy load,” she said. “There are people – low-income households and especially low-income renters – who have to choose between paying their utilities and basically putting food on the table or treating their illnesses by going to the doctor.

With the seed money, the Mayor’s Office of Sustainability and Resilience will begin developing various programs over the next year, such as a process to help residents pay for utilities.

According to Georgia Power data — including another rate increase expected to hit bills starting this month — the average Atlanta customer pays $165.39 per month for utilities.

“It’s not just about offering band-aids to solve long-term problems,” Bakhtiari said. “It’s also about creating opportunities for affordable weather protection to keep the cost of housing low.” »

Future funding for the trust will come from a variety of sources, such as revenue from sustainable energy tax credit programs, federal grants and the city’s general fund, she said.

During the committee’s consideration of the bill, council members discussed how much money to initially put into the fund — at one point, the amount dropped to $300,000.

Councilmember Alex Wan, who sponsored the bill alongside Bakhtiari, pushed to increase funding up to $500,000.

“I know the intention was to put some startup money into it,” he said. “And it’s definitely far from the amounts that we were initially considering at the start of these discussions.”

“If we’re going to do this, I think we need to do it in a meaningful way,” Wan said. “And I just don’t think ($300,000) represents what I think the city should be reporting.”

Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens also has an ambitious goal for the city to reach 100% clean energy by 2035.

“Nearly 50,000 homes face an energy problem in our city, and we are constantly looking for ways to help them,” he said in a statement. “We are following a strategic roadmap to reduce overall energy use and emissions in the city’s buildings and the Atlanta Community Energy Trust Fund will enable innovative solutions and faster action as we focus on energy efficiency solutions.