HomeMy WebLinkAboutCAC Minutes_04282026_DRAFT Jefferson County/City of Port Townsend
Climate Action Committee
/
Meeting Minutes
Tuesday, April 28, 2026 3:00 - 5:00 PM
Hybrid Meeting
Hosted by Jefferson County Public Health
615 Sheridan Street; Pacific Room; Port Townsend
Members Present: Cindy Jayne (Chair), Owen Rowe (City Council), Heather Dudley-Nollette, Carol Hasse (Port), Laura Tucker (Jefferson County Public Health), Amy Hall (Jefferson Transit
alt), Nicole Gauthier (Jefferson Transit), Crystie Kisler, Kees Kolff (JHC), Dave Wilkinson, Dave Seabrook, Jeff Randall (PUD No. 1)
Absent: Micheal Clea (PTPC), Eric Toews (Port of PT alt.), Jaime Duyck
Staff: County: Laura Tucker (Jefferson County Public Health), Adrian Smith and Emma Bolin (City of Port Townsend Planning and Community Development)
Guests: Lara Gaasland-Tatro, Jameson Hawn (PUD), Kyle Chase (PUD), Chris Hannon, Keith, Jennifer Dyreseth (Jefferson PUD), Melissa Jordan
Scribes: Emma Bolin
Topic Recommendation/Action Follow Up Items
Call to order
Introductions
Chair Cindy Jayne called the meeting to order at 3:02 PM
Approval of Agenda & Minutes
Motion to approve agenda as by Heather, 2nd by Kees. Vote: Unanimous. Motion to approve minutes. Motion to approve minutes from February 24 2026 by Owen, seconded by Kees. Vote: Unanimous.
Wendy Housekeeper to post on County Website
Public Comment
None
Presentation of Jefferson PUD
Bonneville Power Administration (BPA) supplies most regional power, primarily from Columbia and Snake River hydropower, which historically provided cheap and reliable electricity.
Hydropower acts like a “giant battery” that stores water to create electrical energy —but climate change is reducing snowpack and water availability.
The region is at a tipping point where electricity demand is beginning to exceed generation capacity, driven by electrification, EV adoption, and data centers.
A regional power shortfall of ~9 GW by 2030 is projected—equivalent to three Seattles worth of load.
Data centers and AI-related infrastructure are major contributors to rising electricity and water demand, especially in Eastern Washington.
Retirement of fossil fuel “peaker plants” reduces emissions but removes critical grid reliability during extreme cold events.
The January 2024 cold snap showed how close the region came to brownouts, with peaker plants narrowly preventing outages.
Transmission constraints mean new power cannot simply be moved into the region; permitting and construction timelines are long.
BPA spill orders to protect salmon reduce power generation and are expected to raise wholesale rates by ~6.5%.
Washington’s Clean Energy Transformation Act (CETA) requires carbon free power by 2030 and 100% clean power by 2045, adding compliance and offset costs.
As hydropower declines, utilities may have to buy higher cost, higher carbon electricity from outside the region.
Energy efficiency is identified as the cheapest and fastest “resource” to address shortfalls—often preferable to new generation.
Winter morning peak demand (roughly 6–9 a.m.) is the grid’s biggest stress point, driving infrastructure upgrades.
Heat pumps work well when homes are properly insulated and equipment is correctly sized; poor building envelopes worsen peak demand.
EVs are not a major grid threat today, as most charging happens overnight, and future vehicle to grid technology offers promise.
Demand response, time of use rates, and flexible loads could significantly reduce grid stress but are limited under current BPA rate structures.
Local generation (rooftop solar, microgrids, batteries) is promising long term but constrained by cost, winter reliability, and BPA contracts. Solar helps keep us under tier 2 pricing.
Grants and incentives from BPA, the Climate Commitment Act, and federal programs are being used for heat pumps, weatherization, and to support low income households with their energy
needs.
Infrastructure planning must increasingly consider energy, water scarcity, wildfire risk, and land use decisions together.
Long term collaboration among utilities, local governments, and communities is essential to maintain reliability, control costs, and protect vulnerable residents.
Microgrid possibility? Community solar projects? PUD looking into them.
Efficiency and conservation voluntary before, and now is a critical resource. Cheaper than building nuclear plant
Need shovel ready projects before PUD can help with grant funding for on-site solar
Snowpack impacts on JPUD water system? Their system is not snowpack dependent.
Fire impacts on transition? JPUD has a vegetation management person who works with the fire department.
Is JPUD involved in county land use planning? Not directly.
Carol noted Clallam got battery packs for folks that needed electricity for medical devices. Anything similar? They are looking at resiliency hubs.
Hydropower acts like a “giant battery” that stores water to create electrical energy —but climate change is reducing snowpack and water availability.
The region is at a tipping point where electricity demand is beginning to exceed generation capacity, driven by electrification, EV adoption, and data centers.
A regional power shortfall of ~9 GW by 2030 is projected—equivalent to three Seattles worth of load.
Data centers and AI-related infrastructure are major contributors to rising electricity and water demand, especially in Eastern Washington.
Retirement of fossil fuel “peaker plants” reduces emissions but removes critical grid reliability during extreme cold events.
The January 2024 cold snap showed how close the region came to brownouts, with peaker plants narrowly preventing outages.
Transmission constraints mean new power cannot simply be moved into the region; permitting and construction timelines are long.
BPA spill orders to protect salmon reduce power generation and are expected to raise wholesale rates by ~6.5%.
Washington’s Clean Energy Transformation Act (CETA) requires carbon free power by 2030 and 100% clean power by 2045, adding compliance and offset costs.
As hydropower declines, utilities may have to buy higher cost, higher carbon electricity from outside the region.
Energy efficiency is identified as the cheapest and fastest “resource” to address shortfalls—often preferable to new generation.
Winter morning peak demand (roughly 6–9 a.m.) is the grid’s biggest stress point, driving infrastructure upgrades.
Heat pumps work well when homes are properly insulated and equipment is correctly sized; poor building envelopes worsen peak demand.
EVs are not a major grid threat today, as most charging happens overnight, and future vehicle to grid technology offers promise.
Demand response, time of use rates, and flexible loads could significantly reduce grid stress but are limited under current BPA rate structures.
Local generation (rooftop solar, microgrids, batteries) is promising long term but constrained by cost, winter reliability, and BPA contracts. Solar helps keep us under tier 2 pricing.
Grants and incentives from BPA, the Climate Commitment Act, and federal programs are being used for heat pumps, weatherization, and to support low income households with their energy
needs.
Infrastructure planning must increasingly consider energy, water scarcity, wildfire risk, and land use decisions together.
Presentation of Jefferson PUD
Bonneville Power Administration (BPA) supplies most regional power, primarily from Columbia and Snake River hydropower, which historically provided cheap and reliable electricity.
Hydropower acts like a “giant battery” that stores water to create electrical energy —but climate change is reducing snowpack and water availability.
The region is at a tipping point where electricity demand is beginning to exceed generation capacity, driven by electrification, EV adoption, and data centers.
A regional power shortfall of ~9 GW by 2030 is projected—equivalent to three Seattles worth of load.
Data centers and AI-related infrastructure are major contributors to rising electricity and water demand, especially in Eastern Washington.
Retirement of fossil fuel “peaker plants” reduces emissions but removes critical grid reliability during extreme cold events.
The January 2024 cold snap showed how close the region came to brownouts, with peaker plants narrowly preventing outages.
Transmission constraints mean new power cannot simply be moved into the region; permitting and construction timelines are long.
BPA spill orders to protect salmon reduce power generation and are expected to raise wholesale rates by ~6.5%.
Washington’s Clean Energy Transformation Act (CETA) requires carbon free power by 2030 and 100% clean power by 2045, adding compliance and offset costs.
As hydropower declines, utilities may have to buy higher cost, higher carbon electricity from outside the region.
Energy efficiency is identified as the cheapest and fastest “resource” to address shortfalls—often preferable to new generation.
Winter morning peak demand (roughly 6–9 a.m.) is the grid’s biggest stress point, driving infrastructure upgrades.
Heat pumps work well when homes are properly insulated and equipment is correctly sized; poor building envelopes worsen peak demand.
EVs are not a major grid threat today, as most charging happens overnight, and future vehicle to grid technology offers promise.
Demand response, time of use rates, and flexible loads could significantly reduce grid stress but are limited under current BPA rate structures.
Local generation (rooftop solar, microgrids, batteries) is promising long term but constrained by cost, winter reliability, and BPA contracts. Solar helps keep us under tier 2 pricing.
Grants and incentives from BPA, the Climate Commitment Act, and federal programs are being used for heat pumps, weatherization, and to support low income households with their energy
needs.
Infrastructure planning must increasingly consider energy, water scarcity, wildfire risk, and land use decisions together.
Long term collaboration among utilities, local governments, and communities is essential to maintain reliability, control costs, and protect vulnerable residents.
Microgrid possibility? Community solar projects? PUD looking into them.
Efficiency and conservation voluntary before, and now is a critical resource. Cheaper than building nuclear plant
Need shovel ready projects before PUD can help with grant funding for on-site solar
Snowpack impacts on JPUD water system? Their system is not snowpack dependent.
Fire impacts on transition? JPUD has a vegetation management person who works with the fire department.
Is JPUD involved in county land use planning? Not directly.
Carol noted Clallam got battery packs for folks that needed electricity for medical devices. Anything similar? They are looking at resiliency hubs.
ICLEI County Climate and Sustainability Exchange Report
This will be skipped and moved to the next meeting.
Climate Element Action Plan
Cindy presented topic. New City Comprehensive Plan Climate Element. County expected this summer. ID key next steps to move actions forward.
140 policies relating to climate in City plan. Many are aspirational. Will focus on ones were we can identify concrete steps to move forward.
Shared a subset of county policies in the climate element and how to move forward. E.g. first two relate to energy.
PUD responded to actions that could be useful. i.e. help identify sites and right sizes for community solar for grant funding. County fairgrounds. Engage with PUD early. Encourage local
businesses to develop. ID funding sources e.g. LION
Salish Coast Elementary is designed for solar collectors.
CETA requires PUD to provide low income weatherization programs to serve most energy-burdened in the community-one way through selling carbon credits. The REPA program and Habitat and
LION were also mentioned, Kees will follow up with JPUD on the LION aspect.
Continued brainstorming relating to public health, community resilience HUB’s and cooling centers and how to get people there (Transit). It was noted that Bayside grant included becoming
an community hub.
City policies relating to minimum zoning densities to curb sprawl and to create more livable, walkable communities and opportunity to develop FAQ by October. It was noted that increasing
density can also impact tree canopy, impacting sequestration and heat island effects, so need to consider all aspects.
City has obtained Urban Canopy planting grants
Steve King has shown data of the numbers of vehicles from other counties entering city limits regularly, so increasing density has the opportunity to reduce VMT.
Workgroup is continuing to meet on this.
Cindy mentioned intercounty partnership (King, Pierce, Seattle, Tacoma, and others) meeting Thursday 4-5:30 on climate action, implementation, and accountability.
CAC members encouraged to review documents and send further ideas to Cindy. Kees to follow up with JPUD.
Climate Element Action Plan
Cindy presented topic. New City Comprehensive Plan Climate Element. County expected this summer. ID key next steps to move actions forward.
140 policies relating to climate in City plan. Many are aspirational. Will focus on ones were we can identify concrete steps to move forward.
Shared a subset of county policies in the climate element and how to move forward. E.g. first two relate to energy.
PUD responded to actions that could be useful. i.e. help identify sites and right sizes for community solar for grant funding. County fairgrounds. Engage with PUD early. Encourage local
businesses to develop. ID funding sources e.g. LION
Salish Coast Elementary is designed for solar collectors.
CETA requires PUD to provide low income weatherization programs to serve most energy-burdened in the community-one way through selling carbon credits. The REPA program and Habitat and
LION were also mentioned, Kees will follow up with JPUD on the LION aspect.
Continued brainstorming relating to public health, community resilience HUB’s and cooling centers and how to get people there (Transit). It was noted that Bayside grant included becoming
an community hub.
City policies relating to minimum zoning densities to curb sprawl and to create more livable, walkable communities and opportunity to develop FAQ by October. It was noted that increasing
density can also impact tree canopy, impacting sequestration and heat island effects, so need to consider all aspects.
City has obtained Urban Canopy planting grants
Steve King has shown data of the numbers of vehicles from other counties entering city limits regularly, so increasing density has the opportunity to reduce VMT.
Workgroup is continuing to meet on this.
Cindy mentioned intercounty partnership (King, Pierce, Seattle, Tacoma, and others) meeting Thursday 4-5:30 on climate action, implementation, and accountability.
CAC members encouraged to review documents and send further ideas to Cindy. Kees to follow up with JPUD.
Working Group Updates
Crystie: Food Workgroup: Food System Resilience Plan funding search. “CAROT” (community of agriculture Resilience audit tool) audit to identify data on current food system before setting
priorities and strategies. WSU funding is not available. Local 2020 is leading group regarding food and emergency planning. Future aspiration is for a climate change symposium for farm
community. Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education SARE grants are possibility. Laura mentioned that the new Transfer Station would have space for a commercial kitchen.
Cindy: Forest Workgroup: Next Steps FAQ partnering with other organizations such as the Land Trust, DNR and Conservation District, and NW Watershed Institute on Forest “Best” Practices
for small forest owners. And doing outreach on programs for woodstove replacement
Cindy: VMT reduction workgroup: focused on climate element. County Comp Plan is available for review. Public hearing coming May 15th.
Laura: Outreach workgroup, hope to have more time in retirement to focus on this.
Public Comment
None.
Other Updates
Nicole: This Sunday, they are re-launching Sunday service, hosting informal celebration with staff and community, 11am-1pm at Haines Place
Heather on behalf of County Fairgrounds Association: Fair will highlight soil amendment tools. Hope fairgrounds will be year-round “Return to Earth” project now cited in Transfer Station.
Owen: Mentioned statewide drought declaration. Water rates study will be done this year for consumer/business rate and mill rates. This is opportunity to investigate if there should
be a rate for agricultural uses in the City.
Cindy: Global Earth Repair Convergence May 7-11 at Fort Worden. Reduced price for locals, and some scholarships available (contact Cindy).State has new Comprehensive Climate Action Plan,
contains next steps on energy efficiency, EV, electric infrastructure, agriculture. Very relevant to Jefferson County, encouraged people to read it. Hopefully the state can move into
increasing funding for these priorities next.
Crystie: Zoom Link 3pm Friday on Climate Commitment Act with Kate Dean (Former BoCC Commissioner and now Director of Policy at DNR)
Dave Seabrook: East Jefferson Fire Rescue will be doing home Firewise assessments. 250 were done last year.
2 open positions for citizen at large.
Laura Tucker will be retiring and County will assign a new staff member.
Heather mentioned ICG is meeting every other month instead of once a quarter to discuss economic development framework and there are climate elements related to that. Joint Affordable
Housing Services Plan (5-year plan) adopted past December. Some policies align around housing development and how it can align and avoid conflicts with climate goals.
Dave Seabrook: Dept of Emergency Management planning a Tabletop exercise June 11th to explore economic interruption with liquid energy supplier supply chains. Homework for participating
agencies: What do you use fuel for and are methods for you to cut back during a shortage? Serious forecasts on disruption based on war in Iran.
Other Updates
Nicole: This Sunday, they are re-launching Sunday service, hosting informal celebration with staff and community, 11am-1pm at Haines Place
Heather on behalf of County Fairgrounds Association: Fair will highlight soil amendment tools. Hope fairgrounds will be year-round “Return to Earth” project now cited in Transfer Station.
Owen: Mentioned statewide drought declaration. Water rates study will be done this year for consumer/business rate and mill rates. This is opportunity to investigate if there should
be a rate for agricultural uses in the City.
Cindy: Global Earth Repair Convergence May 7-11 at Fort Worden. Reduced price for locals, and some scholarships available (contact Cindy).State has new Comprehensive Climate Action Plan,
contains next steps on energy efficiency, EV, electric infrastructure, agriculture. Very relevant to Jefferson County, encouraged people to read it. Hopefully the state can move into
increasing funding for these priorities next.
Crystie: Zoom Link 3pm Friday on Climate Commitment Act with Kate Dean (Former BoCC Commissioner and now Director of Policy at DNR)
Dave Seabrook: East Jefferson Fire Rescue will be doing home Firewise assessments. 250 were done last year.
2 open positions for citizen at large.
Laura Tucker will be retiring and County will assign a new staff member.
Heather mentioned ICG is meeting every other month instead of once a quarter to discuss economic development framework and there are climate elements related to that. Joint Affordable
Housing Services Plan (5-year plan) adopted past December. Some policies align around housing development and how it can align and avoid conflicts with climate goals.
Dave Seabrook: Dept of Emergency Management planning a Tabletop exercise June 11th to explore economic interruption with liquid energy supplier supply chains. Homework for participating
agencies: What do you use fuel for and are methods for you to cut back during a shortage? Serious forecasts on disruption based on war in Iran.
Next Steps and Agenda Planning
Climate element action team update
Laura to do ICLEI climate sustainability report
Jefferson Land Trust – would be good to have them present at a future meeting
Industrial heat from paper mill (Eron went to WA Public Works Association industrial symbiosis in Denmark and has access to a lot of information)
THANK YOU TO LAURA for your public service on the CAC! The group enjoyed cookies in celebration of Laura’s tenure.
Adjourn
The meeting was adjourned at 5:03