Road to Zero: Sustainability is part of our journey

SMUD’s priorities are to keep rates low, provide safe and reliable service and develop programs and services that help our customers manage their energy use, protect the environment and benefit the community. I’m proud that SMUD is one of the cleanest utilities in the country. And we're charting a path toward a clean energy future through our commitment to eliminate 100% of greenhouse gas emissions from our power supply by 2030, the most ambitious carbon reduction goal of any large utility in the United States. SMUD’s focus on sustainability isn’t new. Read on to learn about our sustainability journey and how our holistic approach supports achieving our zero-carbon goal and commitments in our 2030 Clean Energy Vision.

Why sustainability is important

Sustainability speaks to SMUD’s purpose, which is to improve the quality of life for the people we serve. That’s why we take a holistic approach to sustainability. For us, sustainability means delivering affordable and reliable service in a socially and environmentally responsible manner. Using science-based tactics to measure, track and improve our operations and programs, conserve energy and water, minimize waste and pollution, and safeguard wildlife and other assets to protect our people, ecosystems and community is important. The work we do to look at our operations, programs and services through an equity lens is also critical.

We measure our success by the value we bring to the people and communities we serve.

Our sustainability journey to date

There have been many sustainability milestones in our 75+ years. A few that show the depth and breadth of our efforts include:

Power portfolio: Clean energy sources have been central to our operations for decades. In 1957 we began construction on our 688 megawatt hydroelectric Upper American River Project. In 1984 we launched the world’s first commercial-scale solar photovoltaic power plant. In 2010, SMUD was the first California utility to have 20% of its power supply from renewables. We set renewable energy and carbon reduction targets that predated and exceeded state mandates.

Greenergy: SMUD launched the original green pricing program in 1997, where customers could opt to pay a small monthly fee to have their power generated from either 80% or 100% renewable energy sources.

Sustainability Road Map: In 2017, we released our Environmental Sustainability Road Map, an important step in bringing together all the great work going on across the company into one plan. We’re finalizing an update to the plan in a new version called our 2030 Sustainable Operations Plan, which focuses on our internal operations and how they support our 2030 Clean Energy Vision.

Fleet: We retired the last gas sedan from our operating fleet in 2021. Our pool cars are now all-electric and our goal is to have a zero emissions vehicle and equipment fleet by 2030. We’re working with the California Mobility Center and others to lead the way in electrification for work trucks, like our partnership with Zeus Electric Chassis, Inc. where we’ll soon bring the first all-electric work trucks to our fleet that are class 4, 5 and 6.

Carbon elimination: In 2019, we set a goal of net-zero carbon by 2040. SMUD’s Board of Directors made a Climate Emergency Declaration in 2020. Building on these, we set a new goal in 2021 of absolute zero emissions in our power supply by 2030, the most ambitious goal of any large utility in the nation.

Sustainability speaks to SMUD’s purpose, which is to improve the quality of life for the people we serve.

SMUD’s 2030 Sustainable Operations Plan

While our 2030 Zero Carbon Plan takes a broad view of carbon reduction in our power supply and the community benefits from decarbonizing, we know our other internal operations also contribute to SMUD’s carbon footprint, so they need to be addressed, too. The Sustainable Operations Plan we’re finalizing focuses on greening our internal operations not specific to power generation, since that’s addressed in our Zero Carbon Plan.

To develop our plan, we mapped what’s important to SMUD and our stakeholders, paying attention to where we can have the greatest impact and make the greatest improvements. This helped us focus on what matters. We’re also building on momentum that’s been built in various parts of the business to link efforts across departments so we can make impacts on a larger scale and drive even more innovation.

While we make significant investments in sustainability, we must be good stewards of our customers’ money.

We approach sustainability with strong financial stewardship in mind.

We look for cost-effective sustainability solutions that align with our overall business and community objectives. It’s often a delicate balancing act.

Our Plan focuses on five areas:

Greenhouse gas emissions in our non-power generation operations relate to Scope 1, 2 and 3 emissions. These cover things like our fleet policy and electrifying equipment (scope 1), reducing energy consumption and purchasing renewable energy credits (scope 2) and reducing emissions from employees’ commute (scope 3).

Green operations relate to air quality and water. Goals include reducing potable water use in landscaping by 60% and an annual waste diversion rate above 75%.

In our Supply Chain, we’re focused on enhancing our program through the Sustainable Supply Chain Alliance. We’re aligning with leading practices to create a Supply Chain strategy that balances risk management, spend, criticality and environmental impacts to inform supplier relationships and performance.

Additional focus areas include biodiversity and habitat conservation and climate change resilience. One of the things we’re working on in this space is the development of a habitat conservation plan that will allow SMUD to complete its operation and maintenance activities in compliance with state and federal Endangered Species Acts while preserving habitat for rare plants and animals.  

And, finally, engagement is an important part of our plan – internally with our employees and externally with our customers, community, suppliers and other stakeholders. It includes numerous opportunities for SMUD employees to get involved and impact the success of our sustainability efforts via decisions and their day-to-day work. The plan speaks to external stakeholders and sets expectations using a common language which is what is expected in the current business climate.

One of the really cool things we did when we launched the original Environmental Sustainability Road Map was create a “Green Team” of employees. It’s a team of about 30 core volunteers from departments across SMUD that meet monthly. They typically focus on one area or initiative and help implement changes. What’s great about this group is they’re all personally committed and passionate about sustainability, and they’re empowered to make changes. Of note, the Green Team helped to integrate sustainability into our procurement process by adding environmental sustainability questions to our RFP documentation.

Sustainable Communities

A Brookings report showed that from 2006 to 2016, Sacramento ranked in the bottom third of the country’s 100 largest metropolitan areas in composite rankings of growth, prosperity and inclusion. Thirty-four percent of our residents were unable to afford basic household expenses. The report recommended urgent action to address the racial and ethnic disparities in education and job skills across the Sacramento region. Our Sustainable Communities program grew out of that awareness–an acknowledgment and understanding that we have a duty to customers in communities who had been left behind by big institutions, including, to some degree, SMUD. We looked at our programs holistically and saw that the benefits of electric vehicles, rooftop solar and energy efficiency weren’t reaching all of our customers equitably. Our carbon reduction goals require a huge increase in electrification. How do we do that equitably and in an inclusive way?

SMUD’s 2030 Clean Energy Vision is holistic and approaches decarbonization through an equity lens to help ensure all communities benefit. SMUD can’t fight climate change and achieve our 2030 goal without help from a wide partnership of leaders, organizations and individuals, and we won’t erase inequality and injustice on our own. Our Sustainable Communities program helps bring environmental equity and economic vitality to all communities in our service area, with special attention given to historically under-resourced neighborhoods. And we work with a wide range of partners to maximize the impact of our resources.

We created and published a Sustainable Communities resource map on our website that helps identify the neighborhoods most in need in the capital region. The interactive map’s data layers include education, public transportation, tree canopy, employment opportunities, food deserts and what neighborhoods are most vulnerable to the impacts of climate change. The map is helping SMUD and other organizations, including state agencies and local school districts, make investment decisions based on good data.

Our Shine community development funding program and workforce development efforts are part of our Sustainable Communities initiative. Our Energy Careers Pathways program educates adults ages 18 and up in the hands-on technical skills needed to work in the solar energy field. And our Mobility & Advanced Manufacturing Careers Pathways Program prepares students for careers in advanced manufacturing as a precursor to careers in the fledgling clean mobility technology sector.

Our efforts to engage with our historically under-resourced communities and bring them along on our journey, whether through energy efficiency, job training or community investment, is changing the trajectory of people’s lives.

In conclusion

SMUD’s purpose is to improve the quality of life for all our customers, and that’s why sustainability is so important to us in everything we do. We approach sustainability holistically and through a very local lens of what matters to our customers and community here in the Sacramento region. We know our customers expect us to provide affordable, reliable service in the most socially and environmentally responsible way possible. So, we’ve set lofty goals when it comes to environmental stewardship, equity and positively impacting the people we serve.

History favors the bold. SMUD has consistently set bold targets when it comes to environmental leadership and decarbonization, and, as an organization, we’re better for it. And, our customers and region are better for it, too.