Clean energy policies can create jobs, support local business in green markets, and ensure residents have access to jobs created. This brief helps guide you on how to make the most of green investments. After reviewing the City of Oberlin’s energy use and emissions, several policy options and best practices were identified for five energy-using and emission-producing sectors: (1) upgrading the electricity system, (2) greening the commercial and industrial sector to reduce energy costs for firms, (3) enabling anchor institutions in the community to reduce energy use and cost, (4) making the transportation system more sustainable while promoting smart growth and complete street principles, and (5) promote energy savings for Oberlin residents in their homes. By adopting policy options and best practices, communities can spur local investments in the green economy.

Our economy, our communities, our workforce, and our environment are at a crossroads. Past practices and policies of the conventional energy economy produced an economy with vast amounts of waste and low road economic development that left our workers behind, our communities impoverished, our residents dependent on fossil fuels imported from out of state, and our environment polluted.

More than 7,317 properties in the city of Cleveland are vacant and distressed – considered likely to require demolition.1 The nonprofit Thriving Communities Institute – part of the Western Reserve Land Conservancy -- estimates there are more than 25,000 vacant properties in Cuyahoga County.2 Few of these lots are green spaces, a tragic loss of opportunity for their neighborhoods. Green spaces include neighborhood gardens, pocket parks, vineyards, and orchards – something more than a green lawn. Greening vacant lots deliberately and with frequent upkeep can raise the standard of living. Green spaces encourage business investment, inhibit crime, improve environmental health and maintain the community in a neighborhood.

This ordinance applies to all residential zones with a density less than or equal to eight dwelling units per acre; requires the minimum size of an open space development to be five acres; provides that open space is a by-right form of development, and does not require a special exception or additional review; exempts plans registered before the adoption of the ordinance from the provisions of this ordinance; restricts the total number of residential units allowed within an open space development to the number of units that would otherwise be allowed in the existing zoning district using conventional development; and prohibits development in designated open spaces in the future.

This ordinance amends the Gainesville Code of Ordinances to add provisions for the purchase of solar generated energy through a standard offer contract for all classes and limits net metering distributed resources rates for general service and large power classes. The ordinance defines Distributed Generation to mean: small, modular, decentralized, grid-connected or off-grid energy systems located in or near the place where energy is used. For purposes of Net Metering, the generation is connected to the customers' premises behind the electric revenue meter. For purposes of Feed-In-Tariff, the generation may be independent of an existing utility customer account or may be at an existing customer premise and connected to the grid beyond the electric revenue meter. Net Metering is defined to mean: where a retail customer has installed a photovoltaic or other approved distributed generation system on the customer's side of the electric revenue meter, the kilowatt hours output by the distributed generation system shall be credited against the kilowatt hours used by the customer. The net of the kilowatt hours used by the customer less the kilowatt hours produced by the distributed generation system shall be the number of hours that the customer is billed at the applicable retail rate. The ordinance also defines the rate at which utility customers will be credited for their generation of electricity through the installation of net metering systems.

This report serves as a resource for local governments and stakeholders in designing and implementing a local solar plan. The report includes examples and models that have been field-tested in cities and counties around the United States.

This ordinance requires developers of county capital improvement projects to submit a strategic energy-efficiency and greenhouse gas emission reduction plan that includes options for reducing emissions; improving energy efficiency; identifying financial incentives for achieving energy efficiency and greenhouse gas emission reductions; and analyzing the incremental costs for implementing any reasonable options.