Operations and Sustainability

Long a leader in sustainability, Sacramento has established itself as a competitive municipality that attracts investment while effectively improving operations. Since 2005, the City has achieved a 24% reduction in municipal greenhouse gas emissions with projects such as streetlight retrofits and the development of 4.9 megawatts of solar photovoltaics at City facilities. Municipal efforts have complemented private sector innovation, most recently with the completion of the Golden 1 Center. A LEED Platinum facility, the Golden 1 Center is the greenest and most technologically advanced arena in the world. The General Plan and other strategic plans establish a policy framework for ongoing environmental leadership.

Completed Projects

• Streamlined Solar Photovoltaic and Water Heating Permits
• Public electric charging stations and discounted electric vehicle parking
• Smart, Automated Meter Infrastructure (AMI) and remote leak detection program
• Retrofits to approximately one-third of all City-owned streetlights to LEDs. 
• Energy savings are anticipated to result in total savings of more than 5 million kilowatt hours per year, offsetting the annual energy use of approximately 800 average households. 
• Efforts are currently underway to retrofit the remaining two-thirds of streetlights
• City of Sacramento Green Fleet
  • 2015 Greenest Fleet in North America
  • Currently 50% alternative fuel vehicles, including 2 hydrogen fuel cell vehicles, 100% renewable fuels for diesel, and natural gas, and over 30 EVs
  • Telemetrics software installed on all new vehicles for remote analytics
• Golden 1 Center
• Remote Lighting Control systems for energy efficient Convention Center
• Smart Lighting Sensors in City facilities to turn off lights when not in use
• Energy Profiler used to monitor real-time energy usage at the City's eight largest electricity accounts, including the Convention Center
• Waste Wizard, an easy way to help the City residential customers sort their waste properly
• Retrofits to approximately one-third of all City-owned streetlights to LEDs

Projects In Progress

• Radio frequency identification (RFID) to streamline waste pick up