St. Louis
City Scorecard Rank
37
St. Louis, MO
31.00Scored out of 100Updated 5/2017
Local Government Score:
3.5 out of 10 points
Local Government Summary List All
The City of St. Louis Sustainability Plan, adopted in 2013, and subsequent Sustainability Action Agenda articulate some of the city’s energy efficiency-related activities for its internal government operations, however, the city does not have any overall energy or emissions reduction goal for its operations. St. Louis’s strategies include reducing the city fleet’s fuel use and reducing water usage.
Last updated: February 2017
Local Government Climate and Energy Goals List All
The City of St. Louis adopted the Climate Action and Adaption Plan. The Plan includes actions for municipal operations.
Climate Mitigation Goal
St. Louis established a citywide goal to reduce greenhouse gas emissions 80% by 2050 as part of the city’s commitment to the Global Covenant of Mayors.
Energy Reduction Goal
We did not find information regarding a municipal energy reduction goal.
Renewable Energy Goal
The Board of Alderman passed a resolution to use 100% renewable electricity by 2035 citywide.
Last updated: March 2019
Procurement and Construction List All
Fleet Policies and Composition
St. Louis does not have fuel efficiency requirements for the public fleet. St. Louis has a no-idling ordinance (Ordinance 68137) and telematics devices installed in 475 vehicles to improve efficiency and reduce fuel consumption. We were unable to find data regarding the City’s fleet composition.
Public Lighting
We could not confirm if St. Louis has adopted a policy requiring efficient outdoor lighting, such as the International Dark-Sky Association’s Model Lighting Ordinance. St. Louis is piloting three types of energy-efficient streetlight upgrades to determine which are the most reliable, efficient, and cost effective for future use.
New Buildings
The Municipal LEED Standards Ordinance (Ordinance 67414) requires all new municipal construction and major renovations of more than 5,000 square feet to be built to LEED Silver standards. ENERGY STAR equipment is recommended for use by city departments, but departments are allowed to choose what to purchase.
Last updated: March 2019
Asset Management List All
Building Benchmarking and Retrofitting
St. Louis requires all municipal buildings greater than 50,000 square feet to benchmark energy use. We were unable to find information regarding the City’s retrofit strategies.
Public Employees
We could not find data on policies to reduce the commutes of city workers, such as flex schedules and teleworking policies.
Last updated: March 2019
Community-Wide Initiatives
Score: 5.5 out of 12 points
Community-Wide Summary List All
The City of St. Louis has formally adopted the Sustainability Plan. The Sustainability Action Agenda updates the plan’s goals.
Last updated: March 2019
Climate Action and Energy Planning GoalsList All
Climate Mitigation Goal
The Sustainability Action Agenda sets a goal to reduce community-wide greenhouse gas emissions 25% below 2005 levels by 2020 and 80% below 2005 levels by 2050.
Energy Reduction Goal
While the city’s Climate Action & Adaption Plan and Energy Benchmarking program have the intention to reduce energy use within the community, neither have established a quantifiable energy reductions goal.
Renewable Energy Goal
The Board of Alderman approved a resolution to procure 100% of electricity from clean energy sources such as wind, solar, and energy efficiency measures by 2035.
Energy Data Reporting
The city has reported community energy data in its greenhouse gas inventory for the years 2005 and 2010.
Last updated: March 2019
Equitable Climate Action and Energy Planning List All
Equitable Community Outreach
The city did not increase its outreach to marginalized groups relative to other city constituencies in the planning and implementation of a local energy, sustainability, or climate action plan.
Equitable Decision-Making
The city has not created a formal role for local organizations representing low-income or communities of color to participate in decision-making that affects the creation or implementation of a local energy, sustainability, or climate action plan.
Accountability to Equity
The city has not established goals or published methods for tracking how energy, sustainability, or climate action initiatives are reversing any ongoing actions that disadvantage marginalized residents.
Last updated: March 2019
Clean Distributed Energy SystemsList All
The city is piloting a community solar program at St. Louis Lambert International Airport.
Last updated: March 2019
Mitigation of Urban Heat Islands List All
St. Louis is a member of the Green City Coalition, which runs the Urban Greening Program. The Program has a budget of $13.5 million to spend on demolishing vacant and abandoned buildings as a means to reduce impervious surfaces while also restoring the Bissel Point Watershed.
Last updated: March 2019
Buildings Policies
Score: 6 out of 28 points
Buildings Summary List All
The City of St. Louis has jurisdiction to adopt its own building energy codes. The city adopted a benchmarking and disclosure policy. The city also offers several incentives for energy efficiency and renewable energy projects.
Last Updated: March 2019
Stringency of Energy CodesList All
Overview
The State of Missouri allows local jurisdictions to adopt building energy codes more stringent than the state’s code. In 2018, St. Louis adopted the 2018 International Energy Conservation Code (IECC) by ordinance, along with several other of the 2018 ICC codes. To learn more about Missouri’s building energy codes, please visit the State Policy Database.
Commercial
Commercial properties must comply with the 2018 IECC. The city’s zEPI score for their commercial energy code is 51.9.
Residential
Residential properties must comply with the 2018 IECC. The city’s zEPI score for their residential energy code is 55.1.
Solar- and EV-ready
The city has not passed an ordinance mandating new construction be solar- and/or EV-ready.
Last Updated: March 2019
Building Energy Code Enforcement and ComplianceList All
St. Louis does not staff any full time employees solely dedicated to energy code enforcement. The city uses plan reviews to verify compliance with building and energy codes. The city does not provide upfront support for energy code compliance.
Last Updated: March 2019
Incentives and Financing for Efficient Buildings and Renewable EnergyList All
St. Louis offers six incentives for energy efficiency and solar energy projects.
The City of St. Louis launched the Green HELP program to assist residents with low-interest loans for making energy efficiency upgrades to their homes.
PACE financing is available for energy efficiency and renewable energy projects in residential and commercial buildings.
The city offers additional incentives for energy efficiency measures the City's Energy Smart program.
Last Updated: March 2019
Required Energy ActionsList All
St. Louis has not adopted a policy requiring building owners to conduct any additional above-code energy-saving actions.
Last Update: March 2019
Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Workforce DevelopmentList All
We could not verify if the city has programs committed to developing a dedicated energy efficiency and/or renewable energy workforce.
Last Update: March 2019
Energy & Water Utilities
Score: 7 out of 20 points
Energy & Water Utilities Summary List All
Ameren Missouri, formally Union Electric Co., is the primary electric utility serving the City of St. Louis. Spire Missouri (formerly Laclede Gas), an investor-owned utility (IOU), is St. Louis’s primary natural gas utility. The State of Missouri requires all IOUs to capture all cost-effective energy efficiency opportunities. To learn more about the state requirements for electric and gas efficiency, please visit the Missouri page of the State Database.
The St. Louis Water Division is the municipal utility that provides drinking water services to St. Louis. The Metropolitan St. Louis Sewer District is the regional utility which treats the city’s wastewater and manages the stormwater.
Last Updated: March 2019
Electric & Gas Energy Efficiency Programs and SavingsList All
In 2017, according to Ameren Missouri, they achieved 272,125 MWh in net incremental savings, representing 0.86% of retail sales. In 2017, Spire Missouri reported savings of 1.75 MMtherms from natural gas efficiency programs, representing 0.18% of its retail sales. These figures cover the entire Missouri service territory, not just St. Louis. Ameren Missouri offers electric efficiency incentives and technical assistance to residential and commercial/industrial customers. Spire Missouri similarly offers natural gas efficiency programs to residential and business customers.
The City of St. Louis participates in the City Energy Project, and in 2016, the City Energy Project recognized St. Louis with an award to promote energy efficiency in large buildings. The City also partners with Ameren Missouri and Spire Missouri through Set the PACE St. Louis, an innovative program that uses PACE financing to help homeowners and commercial, industrial and multifamily property owners access affordable, long-term financing for smart energy upgrades to their buildings. In doing so, it publishes utility incentives and rebates on its website. Spire Missouri also works with city officials on planning future programs that will include residential energy efficiency financing.
Last Updated: March 2019
Renewable Energy Efforts of Energy UtilitiesList All
Renewable Energy Incentives
In 2017, Ameren Missouri did not provide renewable energy incentives for the construction of new distributed solar or wind systems.
City-Led Efforts to Decarbonize the Electric Grid
To our knowledge, the city of St. Louis does not participate in activities or strategies to help spur or encourage more utility-scale or distributed renewable energy generation from its local electric utility, such as testifying in public utility commission proceedings related to renewable energy, creating a formal partnership with the electric utility on renewable generation, or participating in utility planning efforts to increase renewable generation.
Last Updated: March 2019
Low-Income & Multifamily EE Programs List All
Low-Income Programs
Ameren Missouri, in partnership with Spire Missouri, offers a Community Savers Rebate Program to qualified low-income residential customers. This program is available to multifamily buildings with three or more units in the building that meet income qualifications. The program provides education, HVAC tune-ups and a variety of direct-install, no-cost, energy-saving measures including; LED's, faucet aerators, programmable thermostats, low-flow showerheads, and ENERGY STAR® refrigerators and window units. In addition, incentives are available for common area lighting and whole building retrofits for standard and custom projects.
In 2017, according to Ameren Missouri, it achieved 5,123 MWh in energy savings from its low-income programs, while serving 5,392 low-income customers.
Spire Missouri offers a Low-Income Weatherization Program to customers in St. Louis and throughout its service territory. The program offers weatherization measures including weather-stripping, caulking, HVAC filter replacement, HVAC repair/replace, and low-flow faucet aerators and showerheads. The program partners with the local government agencies, Community Action Agencies (CAA), the Weatherization Assistance Program, Committee to Keep Missourians Warm, Earthways Center, US Green Building Council, and Energy Efficiency for All.
In 2017, according to Spire Missouri, it achieved 0.19 MMtherms of energy savings from its low-income programs, while serving 3,142 multifamily customers across its service territory.
Multifamily Programs
Ameren Missouri offers the Multifamily Low-Income Program. The objective of this comprehensive program is to deliver long-term energy savings and bill reductions to low-income customers by delivering energy efficiency services to customers who are tenants, owners, and operators of multifamily low-income properties. This will be achieved through education and a variety of directly installed and incentivized energy-saving measures in tenant units, whole-building, and common area improvements. Spire Missouri does not offer energy efficiency programs targeted at multifamily properties.
Last Updated: March 2019
Provision of Energy Data by UtilitiesList All
Currently, neither Ameren Missouri nor Spire Missouri provides building owners or managers with automatic benchmarking data for use in ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager. At this point, the City of St. Louis does not advocate to the state for improvements in data provision by the utilities.
Last Updated: March 2019
Efficiency Efforts in Water ServicesList All
City-wide water efficiency and goals
The City of St. Louis’s Water Division and the energy utilities do not offer joint water or energy efficiency programs. At this point, the City of St. Louis Water Division does not have a goal to reduce water usage nor does it offer water conservation rebates or incentives to city residents.
Water plant efficiency and self-generation
There is currently no goal established for saving energy through the municipal water system operations. The city’s water system does not self-generate its own energy.
Last Updated: March 2019
Transportation
Score: 9 of out 30 points
Transportation Summary List All
The transportation authority serving the City of St. Louis is The Bi-State Development Agency. The Agency also provides the public transportation for the city and the broader metropolitan area, including bus and light rail service. The East-West Gateway Council of Governments is the MPO in charge of conducting metropolitan transportation planning. Its area of jurisdiction encompasses St. Louis and many cities and counties in both Missouri and Illinois. The Department of Highways and Traffic is the county agency charged with managing the city’s transportation network.
Last updated: January 2017
Sustainable Transportation Planning List All
Sustainable Transportation Plan
St. Louis does not have a sustainable transportation plan in place
VMT/GHG Targets and Stringency
St. Louis does not have a VMT/GHG target in place for the transportation sector.
Progress Achieved Toward VMT/GHG Targets
St. Louis does not track progress towards its VMT/GHG targets.
Last Updated: March 2019
Location Efficiency List All
Location Efficient Zoning Codes
St. Louis’s Ordinance 69199 was adopted in 2012 and creates a new form-based overlay district to be incorporated into a St. Louis zoning code.
Residential Parking Policies
The city allows one or more parking spaces per residential unit.
Location Efficiency Incentives and Disclosure
St. Louis has no incentives available through the city to promote location efficiency.
Last Updated: March 2019
Mode Shift List All
Mode Shift Targets
St. Louis does not have a mode shift target in place for the transportation sector.
Progress Achieved Toward Mode Shift Targets
St. Louis does not track progress towards their mode shift target.
Complete Streets
St. Louis’s complete streets policy scored an 49.6 out of 100 according to the National Complete Streets Coalition.
Car Sharing
We could not confirm if St Louis has a parking policy in place for car sharing vehicles.
Bike Sharing
We could not confirm if St Louis has a supportive zoning policy in place for docked bike share facilities. The city has 0 docked bike share bikes per 100,000 people.
Last Updated: March 2019
Transit List All
Transportation Funding
St. Louis spends an average of $47.15 per capita on transit.
Access to Transit Services
The city has an All Transit Performance score of 7.6 out of 10.
Last Updated: March 2019
Efficient VehiclesList All
Vehicle Purchase Incentives
Ameren provides a $3,000 rebate on Nissan Leaf purchases.
Vehicle Infrastructure Incentives
St. Louis does not currently offer incentives for the installing of EV charging infrastructure.
EV Charging Locations
St. Louis has 9.07 publicly available EV charging locations per 100,000 people.
Renewable Charging Incentives
St. Louis does not currently have any incentives for renewable EV charging infrastructure installation.
Last Updated: March 2019
Freight List All
St. Louis does not have a sustainable freight transportation plan in place nor does it have any policies that address freight efficiency.
Last Updated: March 2019
Low-Income Transportation AccessList All
Affordable New TOD Housing Policy
St. Louis does not have any requirements or incentives in place to encourage the development or preservation of affordable housing in transit-served areas.
Connecting Existing Affordable Housing Stock to Efficient Transportation Options
St. Louis does not provide any subsidies for efficient transportation options to low-income residents.
Low-Income Access to High Quality Transit
67.2% of low-income households (those that earn less than $50k annually) are located near high-quality, all-day transit in St. Louis.
Last Updated: March 2019