Pasadena Municipal Services Committee Meeting: August 25, 2026

At the August 25, 2026 Pasadena Municipal Services Committee meeting, members approved a staff report updating Pasadena Water and Power’s water-waste ordinance to comply with California AB 1572. The state law phases in a prohibition on using potable water to irrigate nonfunctional turf at specified commercial, industrial, institutional, and HOA properties; it does not cover single-family homes or functional turf, and artificial turf was clarified as outside the restriction. PWP said it will prioritize education and outreach while state enforcement guidance is being developed. The ordinance update was approved by motion; no procurement award was associated with it.

The committee also reviewed PWP’s first combined first- and second-quarter progress report on its carbon-free energy plan. Procurement and project updates included a March 2026 all-source RFP for long-term clean energy, ongoing confidential contract negotiations, an August 3 Clean Power Pasadena Partnership RFP due October 30, 2026, and a design-build approach for the next phase of municipal solar. The municipal solar plan identifies 13 priority sites for completion by June 2028 and 14 candidate sites by June 2029; future years in the FY2027–31 capital plan remain unfunded, with staff to explore rate adjustments, debt, reserves, partnerships, and grants. Pasadena also received $1.7 million in U.S. Department of Energy assistance for solar, battery storage, and EV charging at the Central Library, with a design-build RFP to follow. A 25-MW, four-hour battery project near Glenarm is advancing through construction and permitting. Members requested future discussion of plug-in solar, the solar interconnection limit, workforce opportunities, and possible city provision of residential solar; no clean-energy contract award was reported.