Metro Council Approves O'Connell's Green Energy Bills

The Metro Council gave final approval Tuesday night to a suite of ambitious green energy bills pitched by Councilmember Freddie O'Connell as a "green New Deal" for Nashville. 

The trio of bills — which passed with unanimous support — puts Metro on a schedule to transition to using 100 percent renewable energy, making Metro's vehicle fleet 100 percent electric, and adopting new green building standards for Metro buildings. 

"What started as a kernel of an idea based on my own experience of subscribing to the Green Power Switch for more than 15 years became more than a year of work to create a comprehensive energy policy package for Metro," O'Connell told the Scene in an email following last night's council vote. "We now have a local renewable portfolio standard that will ensure that Metro is on track to use 100 percent renewable sources of energy for its electricity, that its fleet transitions to zero emission, and that our green building standards have more ambitious targets and retrofits. Best of all, because of the Equal Business Opportunity Program, equity is built into the procurement so that green jobs that result from these programs become jobs for all." 

The Renewable Energy Portfolio Standard Program established by one of the bills creates annual benchmarks weaning Metro off of dirty energy. By 2020, the schedule states that the percentage of total carbon-free energy usage will not be less than 53 percent. By 2041, it will have Metro using 100 percent carbon-free energy sources. The Metro fleet electrification ordinance states that Metro's vehicle fleet will consist entirely of zero-emission vehicles by 2050.