Climate Action and Sustainability Committee Meeting - October 2, 2026

The City of Palo Alto Climate Action and Sustainability Committee met on October 2, 2026. The main action item concerned long-duration electric-system resilience. Staff estimated that a 4 MW, four-hour battery system could serve about 300 single-family homes for 24 hours and cost approximately $5.4 million for the battery storage alone; solar, land, interconnection, installation, and operating costs would be additional. Recharging the system daily could require about 20 acres of solar. The committee unanimously approved forwarding staff’s recommendations to the City Council: continue monitoring utility-scale battery storage costs and provide updated estimates to the Utility Advisory Commission within the 2028 timeframe, and review and propose regional hazard mitigations in connection with recommended capital improvement projects. No contract award, vendor selection, or procurement approval was identified.