Seattle City Light has been carbon neutral since 2005 and the utility remains committed to reducing emissions and providing clean power for its customers. As part of this commitment, City Light continues to support research to better understand the effects of climate change on its long-term business health and to prepare for its inevitable impacts. These impacts are expected to intensify and new impacts will emerge over the 21st century, regardless of reductions in the emissions of greenhouse gases that cause global warming.

In 2015, Seattle City Light completed its Climate Adaptation Plan, which will be used to guide the implementation of climate change adaptation actions throughout the utility.

“It is our responsibility to ensure that our electricity system continues to produce reliable, low-cost power regardless of how the climate changes,” said Crystal Raymond, Seattle City Light Climate Change Strategic Advisor. “We are using science to better understand how the environment impacts the utility over the long term.”

Decisions the utility makes can shape the resources and infrastructure for decades into the future. It will be easier and more cost-effective to plan for the impacts of climate change in the design of new infrastructure and selection of power resources now than it will be to retrofit infrastructure or replace long-term power resources once impacts intensify.

To learn more about Seattle City Light’s Climate Adaptation Plan and the utility’s continuous effort to produce and provide clean, green energy, please visit their website.