Athens-Clarke County has become the 4th to commit to 100% clean and renewable energy. Tuesday, commissioners voted unanimously to adopt the goal by 2035. The passage of the resolution kicks off an 18-month long process that will seek input from stakeholders in and around ACC including utilities like Georgia Power and area EMCs.
Tim Echols is Vice-chairman on the Public Service Commission. He expects more cities to join Athens.
“I think is will be a trend, I think we’re going to see cities in the Georgia municipal Association follow suit,” Echols said.
Echols had high praise for community leaders.
“Andrew Saunders, the Sustainability Director for Athens-Clarke County is very progressive. I believe he saved this county a lot of money. I speak with him frequently, he is, in my opinion, the smartest Sustainability Director in the state of Georgia. I feel like we’ve got the brains working here, we’ve got the political leadership that passed this resolution to move forward, now how do we make this happen?”
The vote means Athens will join Atlanta, Augusta, and Clarkston in the transition away from energy sources that pollute the environment and contribute to climate change.
‘I know our Public Service Commission, which is elected statewide, we want to help these cities be successful. How can we compel the power company to do something that’s going to benefit your city and the goals that you’ve set and do it in an affordable way?”
Athens joins 124 other cities across the U.S. committed to 100% clean, renewable energy.
