Good afternoon.

It is December 9th.

We are so pleased to join you for a policy meeting.

I will call this meeting to order.

Will the clerk call the roll?

Councilwoman Guardado.

Here.

Councilwoman Hernandez.

Here.

Councilwoman Hodge Washington.

Councilwoman Pastor.

Councilman Robinson.

Councilwoman Stark.

Councilman Waring.

Vice Mayor O'Brien.

Here.

Mayor Gallego.

Here.

Thank you so much for joining us.

We'll begin with council information and follow-up requests.

And I'll go first to Councilwoman Guardado.

Thank you, Mayor.

We would like to extend our heartfelt gratitude to everyone who attended our annual annual and Farazzo event last month.

We give away almost a thousand turkeys.

Your presence made the event truly special and memorable.

Thank you to everyone who came out, including Chief Ludan from the Phoenix Fire Department, Phoenix Police Volunteers, and our incredible partners at United Phoenix Firefighters.

APS, Southwoods Gas, and Sprouts.

Thank you for your support and your participation.

We're thrilled to invite the community to join us in celebrating the activation of the new traffic signal at 91st Avenue and Campbell Avenue, happening tomorrow, December 10th at 10 a.m.

This milestone is a result of strong collaboration with our neighbors, including the Western Enclave Block Watch and the Pennergas Elementary School District.

Together we identified the need and brought this vision to life.

This celebration marks the shared achievement, and we can't wait together with residents to honor the power, our partnership, and progress in our district.

And moving on from great things in the district, we also want to talk about this upcoming Christmas.

Once again, we want to invite everyone to our fifth annual very merry Marybell.

We are delighted to invite you to our upcoming events, Mary Mary Mary Bell at the Marybell Community Center this Saturday, December 13th at 4 starting at 4 p.m.

Join us for a joyous celebration filled with amazing food, music, performances, toys, and raffles.

Mark your calendars and come and celebrate with us.

We will have a present for everyone of almost every age will be doing amazing raffles.

We will be we'll have Santa there for kids to be able to take pictures with him.

So we're very excited, and at this point, uh we have over a thousand toys and all of the slugs slots have been filled up between Alhambra and Cartwright.

So we're very excited for this upcoming event, and hopefully we'll be able to report on how it went next month.

Thank you, Mayor.

Thank you so much, Councilman, and congratulations.

I had a bet with the Las Vegas mayor that the uh losing mayor would have to wear a jersey of the winning team to a city council meeting.

So this is a an Asia.

So congratulations to Las Vegas Aces for winning the championship.

Although I'm so incredibly proud of the Mercury.

It was supposed to be a rebuilding year, and we went all the way to the finals.

Very excited for next season.

And you can tell the Las Vegas mayor.

I have fulfilled my bet.

And on a more serious note, now I'll turn to Councilwoman Pastor.

Well, thank you, Mayor, for fulfilling the bet.

Sometimes some people don't do that.

I'll wait for my slides.

As the slides are coming up, I will talk about uh as you can see.

We're in the ring together.

I'll next slide.

I will talk about the Street Eats Beat and Beats Festival.

It's the first one ever happening by the Arizona Asian Chamber of Commerce.

It happened during Thanksgiving weekend, and we found a little spot of activation at Solano Park, which needed some activation.

So I want to thank Rick Vic Reed, Ryan Winkle, and the entire teen of the Asian chamber for putting this together.

There are so many more events that we could do to activate that park.

Waho Loton 2025 Turkey Giveaway, 1,500 turkeys distributed.

As you can see, the mayor and I are right there by the ring.

We're having a good time.

I'd like to thank all the City of Phoenix departments that were there.

And most importantly, I'd like to thank Prince Arizona for hosting this and inviting many of us to participate.

Next slide.

FQ Stories Home Tour, Holiday Marketplace was and Street Fair was this Saturday.

You can see all the different local vendors.

One of the vendors, which was very interesting, where I purchased my necklace.

And when I went to FTF Story, I said, Aren't you on TikTok?

She's like, Yeah, and I was like, Oh, I'm looking for this necklace.

She happened to have it, I purchased it, and we had a great time.

She's located on Roosevelt, so any of you want to visit her, you can visit her.

And then yeah, I got some bath bombs.

Uh, those are great stocking stuffer.

And then I was so excited to see this map right here of the historic districts, and it's uh uh a driving tour map that you can go see all the different historic district um homes and districts.

So had a great time.

Um I want to thank Roberta, Sasha, and everyone in FQ Stories, as well as the Phoenix His Historic Home Tour and Street Market Coalition for continuing to showcase our historic homes.

Then, like most of us, we were all there on Saturday night at the APS Electric Light Parade.

We had such a great time.

It's always fun to see everybody and all the kids.

Um, most importantly, I uh was able to get the attention of the young uh young kids, children, uh, because throughout my whole ride, I was doing six, seven.

Um, that was the theme uh throughout the whole ride.

It kept me active, it kept me engaged.

Uh, but I also told the kids it was 7-8, 8-9, 9-10.

So uh they all corrected me as I went.

So I want to thank most importantly, I want to thank uh the parks and recreation crew because the whole crew comes out for quite some time and spends their whole weekend there.

APS and uh Phoenix Union and all the volunteers, as well as a thousand residents who support the city of Phoenix, and so I'm grateful for them.

Project cure uh grand opening.

This was another cool space that I went to.

It's their grand opening, it's in the heart of uh 35th Avenue and Thomas.

What Project Cure does is they collect all the medical supplies and then disperse it throughout the world.

Um, as you see that map, uh the red represents every country that they have served.

So I want to thank them for doing that.

It's all volunteer base.

Uh it's 200 hours of services service that they do, and uh I'm just impressed by by what they do with such a small little collective group.

Uh they have provided over uh provided supplies over to 135 countries, so it's exciting.

Midtown neighborhood association, we celebrated Margaret Dietrich's dedication to our community.

She is now stepping off of Midtown.

She was part of the pioneers of starting it.

I want to thank the mayor for her proclamation.

Uh, she did when we called her up, she had no clue we were coming.

She had no clue I was coming, but even though everybody was celebrating, I was running late, and then I came in and I asked Margaret to come up, and then I said, Let me read your proclamation.

She just at that moment lost it.

Um, but I want to we thanked her for all her dedication.

And Saturday is our community cleanup.

Anyone that wants to come help, uh keep Phoenix Beautiful.

We partnered with them.

Uh, if you're more than you're more than welcome to come, it's at 1822 West Pearston Street.

Uh it's from 8 to 11.

We have a good time.

I actually have a really good time in some of these cleanups because I meet a lot of new and inspiring young students that need to do community service, and so I get to know them and I get to see them throughout the day cleaning and we talk about some random stuff or stuff that we find.

And it's just a great time to show that it's it's great to give back to your community and help those in need.

So if you're interested, please let me know.

And finally, tomorrow, if you want to come see me, I'm having a holiday party at uh the Encanto Tavern at the Encanto Golf Course.

We will be starting from 5:30 to 8, 6 o'clock is when we're starting bingo.

So if you want to come win prizes, come visit me and let's play bingo.

We will do six rounds of bingo and you will win a prize.

So thank you.

As always, you're able to contact me.

Thank you, Councilwoman.

Good luck with bingo.

Any other updates?

Wonderful, and I'll join you in thanking Team Phoenix and particularly the Parks Department for their hard work on the beloved electric relate parade, and thank you to APS for the partnership.

We'll now go to our first agenda item, which is a very timely discussion.

We've been talking a lot about affordability at the City of Phoenix.

We've been very focused on housing affordability and food affordability.

And now as we approach the holidays, we know just costs generally is on the mind of so many of our residents.

We're seeing significant increases in electricity demand and electricity prices across the country.

We've seen the impact of inflation on everyday items.

Similarly, utilities are experiencing inflated cost for both materials and infrastructure.

We know right now data center construction makes up the lion's share of U.S.

economic growth, and it is dominating our utilities prospective industrial cues.

While the city of Phoenix does not have a municipal utility, unlike many of our peer cities in the electric space, we are committed to doing our part to ensure our residents have access to tools to reduce their energy bills and avoid energy burden.

The city council also prioritizes policy that delivers the best benefit for our residents, including encouraging economic development that results in strong sustainable career pathways and makes our community stronger.

As you'll hear in this presentation, actions to relieve energy burden also include ensuring our residents are aware of the cost-saving programs available to them in partnership with utilities and our community-based organizations, expanding resources to make homes more energy efficient, expanding access to quality cost-saving rooftop solar, and more.

And now I think it's my first time introducing her with this title to do a presentation in her new role.

Welcome, Assistant City Manager Ginger Spencer.

Thank you, Mayor, and thank you, Council.

Mayor and Council, earlier this year, you approved the target for the City of Phoenix Energy Access Plan to reduce the energy burden that some Phoenix households are experiencing.

The energy access plan is a component of the city's overall climate action plan.

I'm here to introduce Carla De La Chapa, our chief sustainability officer for the city of Phoenix.

Carla joined the city in April of this year by the way of San Antonio, Texas, where she brings 19 years of experience with CPS Energy in San Antonio.

Carla is already off to a great start and recently helped the city to receive the SRP Champions of Sustainability Award for the first time for your leadership and the city's work around energy efficiency, solar, electric vehicles, and water conservation across city operations and departments, many of which are here today.

So with that, I would like to hand it over to Carla and Dr.

Carlos Aguilar Hernandez from Carlos team to walk us through their work on the energy access plan.

Thank you, Ginger.

Good afternoon, Mayor and members of the council.

I'd like to take just a brief moment for gratitude.

I wanted to thank each of you and your staff for welcoming welcoming me warmly to your community.

This proud Texan is honored to be a Phoenician.

And more broadly, I thank the Phoenix community for welcoming me warmly as well.

It's a privilege to serve this community.

I'm happy to be here.

All right, I'll get started on the presentation.

Thank you for this opportunity to present it to you today.

The Office of Sustainability was tasked with developing an actionable plan to strengthen against extreme heat and help energy remain affordable in Phoenix.

Energy, the energy access plan created reflects the city's commitment to a healthy and sustainable future.

It outlines the steps the city will take from now until 2030 to help reduce the burden of high energy costs.

Here in the heart of the Sonoran Desert, we know the challenges of extreme heat and the importance of access to affordable reliable energy.

Today, we'll provide an overview of the challenges our residents face with energy affordability, revisit the targets set earlier this year, and present the resulting actions outlined in the energy access plan.

Extreme heat in Phoenix makes indoor cooling essential for safety and comfort, especially during the hottest months.

Without reliable cooling at home, residents face serious health risks, heightened stress and anxiety, lower academic performance, limited job opportunities, and even life-threatening heat related illnesses.

For many families, high energy costs create impossible choices, like cutting back on food or medicine to pay their energy bills.

When systems break down, they may not have the money to repair or replace them, putting their health at risk.

This highlights the deep connection between extreme heat, energy affordability, and health.

That's why we've developed the energy access plan to ease the burden of energy costs and help lift residents out of energy poverty.

I will now hand it over to City Energy Manager Dr.

Carlos Aguirre Hernandez to define what energy burden means for Phoenix.

Thank you, Chief Sustainability Officer Carla de la Chiapa.

To understand energy affordability, we present a few concepts that inform the energy access plan and help us to clarify the challenge.

Energy burden, the percentage of income a household spent on energy, is one of the clearest indicators of whether a family can afford to stay cool and safe in their homes.

Experts consider that if a household's monthly energy bills are greater than 6% of their monthly income, then they are experiencing a high energy burden.

On this slide, we show how energy burden is shaped by two factors household income and monthly energy bills.

For example, if a household household earns 2,500 a month and pays 150 dollars a month for energy, that is 6% of their income spent on energy, which means they're they have a high energy burden.

This helps us understand that even small changes in income and energy use can make a big difference for families.

Here in Phoenix, 14% of households, which is more than 82,000 homes, are experiencing energy burden.

Of those, nearly all are low income.

This means thousands of families are struggling to keep the lights on and their homes comfortable, especially during extreme summer heat.

Here on the map, we show the distribution of energy burden across Phoenix.

Each area on the map represents a census tract.

The darker blue shapes represent a higher number of households that spend more than 6% of their monthly income on energy bills.

An older housing stock, limited access to energy upgrades, and household income can contribute to variation in how different areas experience energy burden.

Across Phoenix, about one in seven households face high energy burden impacting all districts.

In four districts, over 15% of homes are experiencing high energy burden.

Now I will turn the presentation back over to Carla.

Over to Carla.

Thank you.

The central target of the energy access plan approved by City Council in January of this year is to increase household participation by 25% in low-income energy programs by 2030.

Currently, just over 72,000 households participate in a range of low energy programs, meaning we will add more than 18,000 households to hit the 25% goal.

A companion to our climate action plan with its commitment to carbon neutrality by 2050.

The energy access plan also complements efforts to increase clean energy and energy improvement retrofits by focusing on expanding program access.

Both plans align with reducing energy consumption citywide and require close collaboration with key community stakeholders.

These partnerships provide us critical information in this plan's development and will be essential in its execution.

We want to thank and acknowledge our community partners who were essential in this process and drive action to meet our goal.

To highlight this community input, I will now hand it back over to Carlos.

Thank you, Carla.

To ensure this plan reflects the needs of Phoenix residents, we incorporated extensive community input.

In collaboration with the Office of Environmental Programs and partners like Pinnacle Prevention and Unlimited Potential, we hosted 10 bilingual workshops citywide.

Residents shared their experiences with energy burden and help shape solutions, forming the foundations of this plan.

Three key themes emerged energy programs, behavioral modifications, and high cost of living.

Residents emphasized the importance of energy programs that offer financial support for energy efficiency, home repairs, and energy bills.

However, many also pointed out limitations, especially for low-income households.

Some noted that bill assistance programs often delay rather than reduce energy debt, creating ongoing stress instead of long-term relief.

Others shared that confusing eligibility criteria and burdensome documentation requirements, making it difficult to access the very programs designed to help them.

Strategies residents shared include not running their AC during summer, setting thermostat above 85 degrees, and even using foil to block sunlight.

One resident shared that during a financial crisis, themselves and their kids had to sleep outside because the AC was not working and the house was too hot inside.

This theme emphasizes that the plan was created to enhance safety and comfort for residents in response to extreme heat.

Rising expenses, especially high rent and electricity bills, often force families to choose between paying utilities or buying essentials.

These trade-offs make it difficult to save for other needs like transportation, medication, or food.

High energy costs take a serious emotional toll, contributing to stress and anxiety that affect the overall well-being of individuals and families.

In summary, community feedback emphasized the urgent need for an energy access plan that puts both immediate affordability and long-term stability for Phoenix households.

This plan aims to connect more residents to these programs by leveraging our relationships with key community partners and through and through our in-house energy assistance programs.

The City of Phoenix offers several energy and housing programs to help residents lower energy cost, improve their homes, and get support during financial hardships.

Now I will share three key programs available for qualified residents.

First, the waterization assistance program, led by the neighborhood services department, helps low-income households improve energy efficiency at no cost.

Upgrades may include insulation, air ceiling, and energy efficient appliances.

These upgrades help lower energy bills, improve indoor air quality, and make homes more comfortable.

The modernization assistance program is funded throughout multiple sources, including federal, state, and utility funds.

The owner occupied housing rehabilitation program, also managed by NSD provides free home repairs for low and moderate income homeowners for issues like broken air conditioning or structural damage.

Assistance is provided as a forgivable loan with no repayment required if programs conditions are met.

Finally, the emergency housing and utility assistance program offered by the Human Services Department supports residents facing a financial crisis.

It offers a variety of services such as help with overdo energy bills, emergency rent assistance, urgent home repairs, and more.

Now Carla will talk about external energy programs.

Although the City of Phoenix is not an electric utility provider, the plan's actions were created to leverage the city's governmental resources and local expertise to alleviate high burden.

We work closely alongside our electric utility partners, APS and SRP, who do serve our community.

Both APS and SRP offer a variety of programs for bill support and energy efficiency upgrades.

We would like to acknowledge the work of our energy providers and highlight a few programs that help with energy affordability.

The APS CARE program and SRP's Project Share, both in partnership with the Salvation Army, serve two important roles in supporting our communities.

First, they provide direct financial assistance to customers during times of crisis, offering up to $500 in bill support.

Second, they give customers the opportunity to make tax-deductible donations to the program through their monthly bill.

These contributions help fund the programs and support fellow community members.

Both utilities match customer donations, doubling the impact.

These programs reflect a commitment to helping customers stay connected during difficult times.

The APS's energy support program and SRP's income qualified discount are both based on household income and size and are designed to help reduce energy costs.

APS's energy support program offers a monthly discount of either 25 or 60% on energy bills.

There's also a medical discount option, which provides a 35% or 60% discount for customers with qualifying medical conditions.

SRP's income qualified discount provides a fixed monthly credit, either 10 or $35, which can add up to $420 in annual savings.

APS offers in-person and virtual home energy checkups by qualified contractors to identify home energy improvements.

Residents may receive rebates for AC upgrades, duct sealing, insulation, and water heater timers.

These improvements reduce energy loss, improve air quality, indoor air quality, promote off-peak energy use, and lower energy costs.

SRP offers a home energy assessment that connects their customers with an SRP energy ambassador to complete an in-home or virtual assessment identifying efficiency improvements.

Residents may receive rebates in the form of bill credits for energy efficient appliances, insulation, and window treatments.

These rebates encourage smart upgrades that improve comfort and lower energy expenses year-round.

The low-income energy assistance program, or LIHEAP, provides emergency and regular bill assistance to qualifying households up to $640 per year, with additional support for those facing shutoff notices or urgent energy related needs.

Payments are made directly to the utility providers, helping families stay connected during times of financial hardship.

For long-term energy savings, the home electrification and appliance rebate program offers rebates of up to $14,000 per household to help low and moderate income residents upgrade to energy efficient electric appliances.

Other covered upgrades include induction stoves, insulation, and electrical panel improvements.

Depending on income level, households may qualify for 50 to 100% of eligible costs.

These programs are the drivers for the plan's actions.

Now that we've reviewed the programs, I'll present the focus areas.

The energy access plan centers three focus areas that include six actions to increase participation.

First, investment and securing of additional funding.

Second, community and stakeholder collaboration, and third, policies and regulation.

Under the first focus area, investment and securing of additional funding, the first action 1.1, expand the city of Phoenix weatherization assistance program, focuses on building the city's capacity to deliver energy efficiency retrofits in low income communities by pursuing new funding and support services to expand access to weatherization.

It also advances the Climate Action Plan goal of providing safe, efficient, sustainable and affordable homes.

The second area focuses on community and stakeholder collaboration.

We have and will continue to work hand in hand with the Phoenix community.

Action 2.1 strengthened community driven planning and programs will continue to center resident voices in program design and decisions.

This means working closely with community-based organizations and residents to ensure programs are culturally relevant, accessible, and responsive to needs.

The city will use collaborative co-creation methods and maintain transparency while linking energy affordability with health, housing, water access, and extreme heat.

This cross-sector strategy will streamline support through shared outreach and referral networks.

Action 2.2 expand multilingual and community-based energy education, expands energy education through culturally relevant materials and multilingual outreach.

We'll host in-person workshops, launch social media campaigns, offer webinars in community languages, and partner with schools to reach youth, ensuring all residents can make informed energy decisions.

Action 2.3 improves solar access and consumer protection, will seek to expand solar opportunities for low-income households while also strengthening consumer education and protections.

This includes developing pilot programs and partnering with trusted nonprofits to offer workshops on solar readiness and financing.

The city will also explore innovative utility and nonprofit partnership models to reduce adoption barriers, prevent fraud, and support informed decision making.

This action aligns with the Climate Action Plan's goal to advocate for distributed energy systems and a cleaner electric grid.

Supporting workforce development initiatives is another long-term approach to decreasing energy burden through supporting income stability and strengthening pathways to employment.

Action 2.4 scale up workforce development, promotes energy related careers by sharing job opportunities, training programs, and incentives.

The city will strengthen career pathways in clean energy by scaling up workforce development and partnering with nonprofits, schools, training programs, and training institutions to build a diverse skilled workforce.

For policy and regulation, we have Action 3.1, support sustainability advocacy structures, which will continue to amplify resident voices by supporting advocacy efforts that span across the energy, housing, and health sectors.

Through strategic partnerships and inclusive engagement, the city will collaborate with local organizations and government agencies to promote renter rights, support solar regulation, monitor energy rate cases, and expand access to energy accessance programs, all while working within its local capacity.

This action is about using the city's influence to advocate for equitable energy policies and ensure that community priorities are represented in regulatory and policy discussions.

In summary, this new energy access plan is part of a policy framework for reducing the negative impacts of energy burden in our community.

The council approved target is to increase participation by 25% or 18,000 household households in low-income energy programs by 2030.

Community and stakeholder feedback is the heart of this plan, and it shaped the six actions to address the day-to-day challenges Phoenicians face and prepare us for extreme heat and secure affordable energy.

The actions we propose again are expand the City of Phoenix weatherization assistance program, strengthen community-driven planning and programs, expand multilingual and community-based energy education, improve solar access and consumer protection, scale up workforce development, and support sustainability advocacy structures.

We want to thank you, Mayor and members of the council for your leadership.

Once again, we'd like to recognize all of our community and city partners who collaborated to create this draft.

We'd also like to give a special thanks to all of the Phoenix residents who shared their experience with experiences with us, without whom this work would not be possible.

We are requesting action to we are requesting taking action on this item, and staff's recommendation is to approve the energy access plan.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you to Ginger, Carla, Carlos, and the many partners involved.

Thanks to SRP and APS for your contributions.

When the city council approved the goal to increase the number of households participating in energy assistance and efficiency programs by 25% back in January, we were planning to implement the federal solar for all program to increase solar on Phoenix households.

Administration has gone in a different direction there.

While this tool is no longer available, we'll continue to find pathways to connect residents with high quality cost-saving rooftop solar.

I'm also really glad to see workforce development reflected as one of our pillars in the plan.

It's my understanding that the certification for energy efficiency is operated, offered by one entity in Arizona, FSL.

To scale this work, we got to make sure we find ways to improve the certification process and bolster the jobs pipeline.

Energy efficiency is a solutions multiplier.

Makes homes cooler and more comfortable in our summer heat, reduces demand on the grid, and lowers energy bill.

So appreciate all of the work in this area.

We'll go for a motion after we have council and public comments, and I'll begin with Councilman Robinson.

Thank you, Mayor.

And I'll echo the mayor's um comments about it was a great presentation, Ginger Carla and Carlos, thank you very much.

It's the information is sorely needed, and thank you for all your hard work.

The first question I have, and I think it may be for either Carla or Carlos.

Um it was probably the sixth slide end.

Understanding the challenge.

The question I have is this a year-long burden, or is it um is it more relaxed this time of year?

I mean, how are we recognizing or is it a continuous problem when it comes to folks experiencing this energy burden?

Mayor, members of the council, councilman Robinson, thank you for that question.

Um residents experiencing energy burden is uh a year-round issue for many because there are other contributing factors that include low wages, affordability of housing issues coupled with high energy bills.

Um, and high energy bills can come from housing stock as well.

But of course, Phoenix has a very unique and long heat or hot season, so that tends to be the time of year that is the hardest on our community.

Okay, thank you.

And I assume that, but I just, you know, I thought it at least needed to be said because you know I know folks think that once it cools down, things change, energy bills go down and such, but I I assumed that it was a year-round burden.

The next question I have was on slide number 10.

It's the city departments and partnerships.

And if I understand it correctly, I would I would um argue or I would suggest that if there is a way to include both the Phoenix fire and police departments in that list of partnerships, and not that either department's looking for more work by any stretch of the imagination, but I know that they come into contact with folks who are probably um in a situation that would benefit from a knowledge of this program.

And so I don't know that it would be anything more than just a um an update for their supervisors within both fire and police department to understand what processes are available, and if an officer or a firefighter they're at a house for whatever reason they come across a family that's living in a situation that could benefit from this, it would be great to see if they were partners involved in that program as well.

And um that's all I had again.

Thank you very much.

I thought it was an exceptional presentation.

Mayor, thank you for the time.

Thank you so much, councilman.

Councilwoman Hernandez.

Thank you, Mayor.

Um, just have a couple questions.

Um, in calculating the energy burden percentage for the households in Phoenix, are we using the same standards that the state is identifying?

I know the governor's office has an office of I I don't know all the titles, but I know they're using a certain calculation to calculate statewide energy burden households.

Are we using the same metrics?

Mayor, members of the council, councilwoman hidden on this.

Yes, we are using the same metric, which also comes from the um American Council on energy efficiency uh that defines it as household income and monthly energy bills exceeding six percent, and then 10% is extreme hot burden.

Okay, thank you so much for that.

I just wanted to make sure.

And then um, I think you answered part of my question.

I just want to make sure I have this understanding.

Uh, in order to get to the 25% by 2030, we means that we need to go from about the 72,000 households, increase that by about 18,000 um to get us to nine 90 92,000 or so um to hit that the 25% by 2030.

Yes, councilwoman hidden on this, that's correct.

Okay, thank you.

Um, and then my next my next question is in reading the some of the reporting and then community engagement side, um I saw that the community identified about five to six different solutions that they wanted to see.

Um, yet in some of the actions that are being proposed, only two of them speak to those solutions that the community identified.

Um, and the rest of the solutions feel like they wouldn't have the same impact or have uh immediate impact on the community's energy burdens are on those households that are energy burdened and are definitely not part of what they identified as solutions.

Um, can you speak to a little bit about why the shift between what the community identified in the engagement process and the solutions that we are we built into the plan?

Yes, councilwoman heading on this.

We um analyzed all of the community input after the workshops, virtual workshops, and participant survey.

And um, I I do want to just make note that this is our first iteration of the energy access plan.

It is intended to be updated and improved as we go along and gather more community input.

We wanted to focus on actions that we could implement and execute with our our current partners very quickly by 2030, but by all means, all of the feedback was analyzed, and this leaves the door open for us to continue to create innovative programs for the future.

Okay.

I thank you for that.

And you know, I I hear that, but district seven also shows that is one of the highest districts with households that are energy burdened, and one of the things that the community identified was financial assistance to meet those energy bills.

So, you know, that was one of the that was the leading factor that they identified.

It was it scored at the very highest of the six solutions that they identified.

So if I if community members are asking for the bill assistance and the discount programs and even the rebates, um, what I guess why are those pieces worked into the plan to give them more financial assistance?

Um councilwoman hidden on this.

We um, you know, today we presented just a small breadth of the programs that do exist, and there are many forms of financial assistance that the Office of Sustainability along with all of the other offices, neighborhood services, and all of them who interact with the community can offer support to.

The utilities are also not the only ones who provide financial assistance.

And uh many times when we present a program that's specific to a partner, it doesn't address some of these other financial assistant requirements.

But there are many community partners that we will continue to seek and work with to start really um broadening the breadth of those programs and possibilities specifically for your district.

And this is why outreach in all of the districts is so critical to continue to improve this plan.

Okay, I think I appreciate that.

You know, also I think my other concern with the first our action.

Sorry.

One um, I think it's one point basically around the light heap, right?

And expanding weatherization, we are also very aware, right?

That there is federal impacts.

I guess that would be my question.

Are we facing any federal impacts or impacts by the federal government in looking for ways to expand the weatherization programs that we already offer?

Councilwoman heading on this.

Yes, there are impacts to many programs from federal funding shifting priorities.

However, the LIHEAP program in particular, but state and city local programs do have a different variety of funding sources, and so that is part of the focus is that we start to really look for alternative forms of funding until we either have a shift in federal funding priorities and or um we find new sources of funding for that.

Okay, all right, thank you.

So I think my last question would be for you, Ed.

Um, as we're moving forward, and what I'm hearing is that this is kind of a living document, a living plan, right?

It'll be there is opportunity to update it to pivot as needed as we find what the community because I think at the root of it, right?

I want to make sure that especially with the district, like I said, that is one of the it looks like probably the second highest impacted by energy burden households.

Um, and there is community that is saying, hey, where we need the help is to pay our bills, right?

A lot of things go into that.

How are we gonna tackle that in it in further iterations?

Or what are the opportunities?

What can you share now?

Um, and what can give me the confidence to know that I can go back to my constituents and say, hey, this is where we're starting at, and then these this is how we're gonna get to deliver you the solutions that you're asking for.

Thank you, councilwoman uh mayor, members of the council.

So the city is currently not funded for direct financial assistance for electricity other than through programs that were pointed out through some federal funds.

So one option would be if the council wanted to consider that as part of the budgeting exercise, we'd have to get a sense of the magnitude of it.

But I I think the the what I'm hearing from this plan is to continue to identify what are all the options and to ensure that people know about them so that they can take advantage of those if they if they qualify and are eligible.

So I think there's the informational piece, which is really what um what the team was talking about.

The the budgetary piece for the city to do that is a much more difficult question with all the other priorities that you're going to face and that you've already identified.

Um, but we can certainly keep that as part of the conversation as we move forward in the budget.

Okay, thank you.

Because yes, I agree, right?

Like we there are programs that exist that probably aren't being utilized, maybe to their fullest potential, but we also need to, I want to make sure that we also look at what can the city do directly for financial assistance, and as we move forward through the budget process, um, I'm hearing that we can talk about this and we can see if there's ways to identify.

I mean, that would be my ask, right?

Is as we move forward in the budget process.

How can we identify ways that we can provide direct financial assistance to the household?

I mean, that's a that's a big number, right?

Over 80,000, 82,000 households that are paying way more.

And when you combine that with, I think child care can go anywhere from 12% to 30% of their monthly income, and housing costs anything above 30% is rent but is um is uh rent rental burden.

We're talking three things can wipe out an entire family's monthly income.

So can is it something we can work on and see if there's paths to provide more assistance?

My short answer is yes, we can work on that.

My longer answer would be think you'll find, and that's what the budget budget process is designed to do.

You'll see you have a lot of competing interests that could require lots and lots of different amounts of money, and that's the pro the budget processes to prioritize those as a council as to compare.

We're gonna have labor negotiations, we always have public safety issues.

We have a housing trust fund, which you all have just recently acted upon.

All those things will come into play, and you'll have to you'll get to evaluate uh where those fall in your priorities as we want to allocate any extra funding that we may have as a city.

Okay, thank you.

Vice Mayor.

Thank you so much, Mayor, and I too would like to say thank you to our Office of Sustainability, all the community partners, and especially our residents who came and um spoke with those workshops and and gave up their time to provide their input.

I have a couple of questions.

Um when we talk about different subjects, uh definitions matter.

So low income.

Do we have a definition for that?

Or what is that based on the mayor, members of council, Vice Mayor O'Brien?

Yes, we do define low income as um being from the zero to 200% poverty line defined by the US federal government.

I can give you a couple of examples if that's helpful.

For a family of two, that 200% would be about 42,000 per year.

For a family of four, that would be about 64,000 a year.

Wonderful.

That is very helpful.

Thank you.

And then I would um would like to uh compliment you on all the partnerships, not just our external community partners, but is it's very um exciting to see all the internal city partnerships because sometimes what we do as departments is we work in silos, um, and and thank you to Councilman Robinson for adding um fire and and police.

I think sometimes just an awareness of what's going on.

I know that we've utilized the the water bill to make sure that we have folks know about the programs where they can get help, right?

Not just for water, but in these other places.

So I hope we will continue to use that space and and just like I said, want to compliment you for making sure we're continuing those partnerships.

Related to some of the the goals that we have.

You talk a little bit about um more of what community and stakeholder collaboration will look like going forward from here.

Certainly, Vice Mayor O'Brien.

Um I think the the easiest lift for us, and maybe the the largest because it has the highest program participation is continuing to work more closely with our utilities to express the concerns that our residents have around energy affordability.

Um, again, this is a multi-faceted problem.

And so um, you know, working with not just our internal departments like planning development, but the development community as well, focusing on affordable housing.

Um, I think internally we can talk a little bit um about the neighborhood services and housing departments.

They are out in the community all of the time, and this is really just to your point earlier, the departments working together more collaboratively, ensuring that they have all information about all available programs to them.

So, really, I think starting in January, it is a very um collaborative effort to work internally first and ensure that all of the departments know what we're doing, and again, thank you to council councilman Robinson for pointing out that we can work with fire police and uh their CAT program as well.

But um, you know, externally we have a lot of community-based organizations that are trusted sources in their community.

Um, many neighborhoods, HOAs, and neighborhood associations rely on them for information, and that'll be another big push for us in the coming year.

Wonderful.

Um and I do we have some deadlines for some of our goals, especially related to like our weatherization assistance program.

Vice Mayor O'Brien, we have the the main goal, which is just to increase the the participation by 25% by 2030.

We currently don't have interim goals, but that's not to say that we can't work with the neighborhood services department to take a look at that and maybe create some interim goals in the meantime.

Wonderful.

I I really would like to see us have some some interim goals so that we can see what we're achieving along the way and have a checks and balance.

Um, I'm sure it'll come back on an annual basis, but it would be good to know that we're we're um meet meeting those goals as we go or where we need to shift and adjust.

Um bless you.

Um I am very uh thankful for all the work you have done.

Um this especially as the mayor's pointed out as well.

I'm excited about action 2.2 relative to the workforce development.

Um, anytime we can continue to lift up our um citizens and help them to to earn a better wage is a good thing for for this city.

Um thank you for acknowledging the the multilingual um aspect of it.

I know that we've had some success with AI and in translation in our public library and with our police department, and I hope we would utilize that here as well.

Um so again, I know that we can help residents to stay housed and healthy, we can strengthen our entire city, um, helping people stay in their homes is always more effective and humane than addressing homelessness after the fact.

So I think this helps us to achieve those goals, and again, thank you to your team for all of your hard work, and thank you to our community partners, APS and NSRP and everyone else.

So thank you again.

Thank you, Mayor.

Thank you.

Are we ready for public comment?

Councilwoman Pastor, Leonard Clark.

Perfect.

Uh, for those who are listening online, uh, Leonard Clark is in support of the item.

And councilwoman Pestor.

Or did you want to comment?

I'm sorry.

Are we ready for a motion?

Go.

I move the plan.

I second.

We have a motion and a second.

Does anyone wish to provide a comment?

I have some comments.

Councilwoman Pastor.

Thank you.

Um of the feedback that was said um in particular councilwoman O'Brien was talking about what is the for me is what is the base, where are we starting?

And I think this is a great plan in the sense it's very broad.

Uh I believe that all of us now want to dig in and uh build what we're actually going to be doing and put the timeline into play.

Uh I would like to see it sooner than later.

So uh I don't know what that timeline for you to do is, but I would like to know what the community outreach is gonna look like.

Who is that, where is that?

Um I would also like to know the workforce piece, uh, because there's a workforce piece, and what what is that look like, and who do you partner with and what do you do and what are you looking for?

Uh those conversations have to, in particular in the educational world, has to start now in order for them to build a year out or year and a half out.

Um, and I'm sure those conversations are happening, but uh the other piece, and I have my notes right here, is uh I feel like we go out to the community and we ask them what their opinion is, what they would like to see and what they want, and then we pick and choose what we put in a plan.

Um so my suggestion would be to put the six uh pieces in the back of the plan as to what was number one, what was number two, what was number three, number four, and where you could where we're working towards that.

Like number one may not be possible today, but how do we work towards tomorrow?

I think that's important.

Um that that then demonstrates that we are listening and hearing, and this is how we're gonna approach it.

I think that's important, uh, especially with us and uh building trust around amongst our community and really asking them for their feedback and and then not uh placing it in a plan.

Uh we have past experiences on that and we have learned from that.

Um the other piece is we talk about uh low income or cost of living rising and low income.

There's a whole gap between the low income and the middle class.

And I don't even know if we have a middle class.

We'll see in the future.

Um how do we close that gap and how do we how do we help that population?

Because the burden is there no matter what.

And so, what are the different spaces that we can do uh to at least assist or create the conversation and synergy around companies that are willing to help in this space?

And it's become it's gonna become a bigger.

I don't want to use this term, but it I can't think of another term right now.

Um a burden on a family as to as energy increases, uh, what am I gonna choose?

So is it we really need, and I'm glad we're ahead, part of this and ahead of it in the sense of really trying to tackle this piece uh for the future.

So I commend you for this piece.

We asked for it, uh, but I commend you for putting it in a in a way where the average person can read it and say, okay, this is where I go.

Uh the other piece, and I'm gonna end with that, is that maybe we build those um organizations that provide the assistance, we build a platform so that then they know, but not only directing them and telling them, but really uh analyzing who qualifies before they contact somebody because I rather um I don't want to give somebody hope if they're not qualified.

So thank you so much.

Councilwoman Hernandez.

Thank you, Mayor.

Um, I went straight into my questions, but wanna make sure that I thank you, Carla and Carlos for Dr.

Dr.

Aguilar for um all the community engagement, especially doing it in um in bilingual uh community meetings.

So I think that was very important to capture.

Um and I also want to kind of I know some of our utility partners are here listening, um, and I would just really encourage that as we are talking, and I think more important now than ever that we have figures and we have data that shows that just in the city of Phoenix, right?

We have an uh such a high number of households that are energy burden that as we are looking at how data centers are developed that we are not passing on that cost to residents.

District 7 is look at district seven, right?

We have potentials coming there, and it's the second district, the second district with the highest households of energy burden residents.

So I think I would encourage y'all to be really good partners with the city and find ways to also go above it, like go further in the assistance that we provide to the residents, um, especially as things are shifting, right?

And new developments coming, um, just being very mindful of that on how do we incorporate that into in part in addition to the figures we know now.

Um, I think our residents deserve that from all of us and really working in good faith and working in good partnership to address the the issues that they're that they're wanting help with.

So thank you, thank you, Mayor.

Thank you.

And and it's worth uh recognizing Councilman Hernandez in July had a piece in the republic talking about the importance of lie heap and weatherization.

So thank you for raising awareness.

All right, with that roll call.

Yes, Hernandez?

Yes, Hodge Washington.

I apologize, Hodge Washington.

Yes, thank you, Pastor?

Yes, Robinson?

Yes, wearing O'Brien?

Yes, Gallego.

Yes, passes eight zero.

Wonderful.

Thank you so much to everyone who worked so hard on this and will work to get people access to this important aid.

We are adjourned.

Farms um in order to to really train the next generation of farmers.

What we know is that the uh farmer population is aging out.