Reno and St. Cloud Mayors Win Top Climate Awards
Kansas City, MO – As the effects of climate change become more impactful on cities throughout the nation and the world, thirteen U.S. mayors were recognized today for their outstanding leadership in combatting these changes, each winning a 2024 Mayors’ Climate Protection Award. Reno Mayor Hillary Schieve and her city’s Community-Based Solar Resource and St. Cloud Mayor Dave Kleis and his St. Cloud’s Citywide Energy Transformation were the top award winners during The U.S. Conference of Mayors’ 92nd Annual Meeting.
This is the 18th class of mayors to be honored by The U.S. Conference of Mayors (USCM) for local actions that reduce carbon use and emissions in their cities. These annual mayoral awards are supported through a partnership between USCM and Walmart, specifically recognizing innovative “local climate action” by mayors throughout the United States.
“America’s mayors are leading the way to an energy future where clean and sustainable communities are the norm, here in the U.S. and globally,” said Tom Cochran, USCM CEO and Executive Director. “The mayors being honored today – and so many others in cities everywhere – serve as powerful reminders that such leadership is how we can secure this future for our nation and the planet.”
“The community-based solar resource initiative energized our sustainability efforts and made a big impact in the Biggest Little City,” said Reno Mayor Hillary Schieve. “Our partnership with NV Energy allowed residents and businesses to draw solar power from a shared system with low income residents being eligible for a lower rate. We thank Wal-Mart and the USCM for recognizing a unique partnership that blended sustainability with revitalization and affordability,” she said.
“Our city’s energy transformation focuses on community-wide solutions for sustainability and environmental protection” said St. Cloud Mayor Dave Kleis. “This innovative commitment to integrating energy and sustainability work with cost-effective solutions and local economy benefits is St. Cloud’s response to addressing climate and environmental challenges.”
“These award-winning mayors inspire all of us to do more to support our communities amidst a changing climate,” said Frank Paladino, Vice President of Energy Transformation for Walmart. “This year’s winners show how expanding renewable energy and other actions to clean and advance our energy grids can help people save money on electricity bills, reduce emissions and improve our ability, collectively, to help communities thrive. We applaud their leadership and focus on communities.”
Schieve’s Community-Based Solar Resource initiative utilized a partnership with its private electric utility, NV Energy, to build the state’s first community solar project in the city’s core. Participating businesses and residents receive solar energy from a utility-scale facility, as opposed to installing a private solar system on their property, with low-income customers eligible for a guaranteed a lower rate.
St. Cloud’s Citywide Energy Transformation shifted all of the city’s electricity demand from city services to 100 percent renewable resources. While Kleis’s original goal was 75 percent renewable energy goal by 2035, the city vastly exceeded this target, supplying all of the city’s electrical demand with renewable energy by 2020.
LARGE CITY HONORABLE MENTIONS:
Bridgeport Mayor Joseph Ganim – Decommissioning Bridgeport’s Coal-Fired Power Plant and Reimagining the Waterfront; Dearborn Abdullah Hammoud – Public Health Department Review of Climate Action; Lincoln Mayor Leirion Gaylor Baird – Residential Rental Rehabilitation Project; Madison Mayor Satya Rhodes-Conway – Efficiency Navigator Program; and San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria – Zero Emissions Municipal Buildings and Operations Policy.
SMALL CITY HONORABLE MENTIONS:
Edina Mayor James B. Hovland – NextGen Trees; Palo Alto Mayor Greer Stone – Palo Alto’s Electrification Initiative: A Step Towards a Sustainable Future; Salem (MA) Mayor Dominick Pangallo – Off-Shore Wind Marshalling Facility; Santa Fe Mayor Alan Webber – Facilities Improvement Measures; Southfield Mayor Kenson J. Siver – Sustainable Southfield Initiative; and West Hollywood Mayor John M. Erickson – WeHo Climate Action.
Full descriptions of the 2024 Mayors Climate Protection Awards winning programs can be found here.