City of Olympia, WA

02/19/2026 | Press release | Archived content

02/19/2026 - February 2026 Climate Newsletter

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Explore the Climate Element's Implementation Plan

In December 2025, Olympia adopted its Climate Element as part of the Olympia 2045 Comprehensive Plan, setting the City's climate strategy for the next two decades. Now it is time to turn those goals into action.

The Climate Element's Implementation Plan lays out the specific steps the City is planning to take to reduce emissions, build resilience, and support our community. Many of the actions included came directly from community engagement events and through public comments.

You can view all the planned actions and browse actions by sector, climate focus, or timeframe in the interactive Implementation Plan dashboard. This plan will guide future work, track progress, and help Olympia achieve our climate goals.
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Three Years of Savings with Energize!

Through three years of Energize Olympia and Energize Thurston, Olympia residents have installed a whopping 228 heat pumps and 21 heat pump water heaters. These energy efficient, electric appliances reduce residential energy use, which is Olympia's largest source of greenhouse gas emissions. In total, these upgrades are expected to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by over 2,800 metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent over the next 15 years!

In addition to saving energy, Energize participants also saved money. In total, Olympia households cumulatively leveraged over $620,000 in savings through discounts, utility rebates and other incentives, and more than $1.27 million in grant funding. Out of the 249 total installations, 61% were fully or partially subsidized for low- and moderate-income households in Olympia.

Are you interested in staying cool while supporting your home electrification journey? Consider participating in Energize Thurston 2026, launching this spring.

Energize Thurston offers program-exclusive discounts and streamlined access to heat pump heating and cooling, as well as heat pump water heaters for households in Thurston County. This is a great way to save money on utility bills and support local climate action.

Visit energizethurston.org to learn more about the program. Join the TCMC mailing list to receive updates about Energize Thurston.
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Learn about 5 Years of Climate Action in Olympia

Climate Programs Director, Dr. Pamela Braff, presented to City Council at a study session on February 10, and highlighted key climate accomplishments over the past five years. In the presentation, she discussed climate projects from across the City and future work. Want to learn more? You can watch a recording of the study session online.
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Take a Ride on the New Downtown Bike Corridor

The Downtown Bike Corridor is now complete and makes it even easier to bike through Olympia. This new route makes it clearer to riders how to connect between downtown to the regional trails network.

Bike corridors use quiet streets, along with signs and pavement markings, to show they are great options for biking. Just follow the wayfinding signs between Sylvester Park and the Karen Fraser Woodland Trail entrance on Eastside Street and enjoy the ride through downtown and beyond.
Contact
Dr. Pamela Braff, Climate Programs Director
City Manager's Office
360.753.8249
[email protected]
City of Olympia, WA published this content on February 19, 2026, and is solely responsible for the information contained herein. Distributed via Public Technologies (PUBT), unedited and unaltered, on February 21, 2026 at 20:15 UTC. If you believe the information included in the content is inaccurate or outdated and requires editing or removal, please contact us at [email protected]