Community Energy Plan (CEP)

Arlington’s award-winning Community Energy Plan (CEP) is a long-term vision for transforming how we generate, use, and distribute energy. Residents and businesses can expect a variety of benefits as we work to realize this long-term plan:

Reducing energy costs will save Arlington residents and businesses money
Generating energy locally using renewables and other technologies makes us more resilient
Reaching our goal of a 75% lower carbon footprint by 2050 means a cleaner, healthier environment

The Rethink Energy team is spearheading implementation of the Community Energy Plan. We are working on numerous programs and projects to help achieve the CEP goals:

Arlington Solar Co-op

Interested in going solar? The Greater Arlington Solar Co-op allows Arlington and other Northern Virginia residents to purchase solar at up to a 20% discount through the principles of buying in bulk. Visit the co-op website for the schedule of information sessions, or to sign up using the form is near the bottom of the page.

Georgetown University Energy Prize

Arlington County is a semi-finalist in Georgetown University Energy Prize. We’re competing against communities across the country to save the most energy and take home the five million dollar prize.

Leading By Example

Arlington County believes in “leading by example” when it comes to saving energy and reducing greenhouse gas emissions. In 2012 we exceeded our goal of reducing government-wide greenhouse gas emissions by 10 percent, using 2000 as a baseline.

Now we’re committed to the U.S. Department of Energy’s Better Buildings Challenge to reduce municipal energy intensity by 20 percent by 2022. Stay tuned to learn about our progress.

If you are interested in learning more about the Community Energy Plan, check out our implementation committee, our implementation framework or browse our resources library.