City of Fresno Named 2026 Beacon Leadership and Innovation Award Winner

The Institute for Local Government (ILG) has named the City of Fresno a 2026 Beacon Leadership and Innovation Award Winner in the category "Leadership in Climate Resilience & Adaptation," recognizing the City's sustainability work and citywide solar energy and battery storage portfolio developed in partnership with ForeFront Power.

The Beacon Leadership and Innovation Awards honor local governments' efforts to implement collaborative, inclusive, and equitable climate resilience and adaptation programming. The 2026 winners were announced at the League of California Cities Annual Conference and Expo, where ILG recognized the cities of Fresno, Sacramento, San Luis Obispo, Pico Rivera, and Costa Mesa for their commitment to advancing climate resilience in their communities.

The City of Fresno earned this recognition for its Citywide Energy and Sustainability Program, which implements key strategies from the City's Climate Action Plan to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and expand renewable energy at city facilities. To meet these objectives, the City partnered with ForeFront Power to develop a 34 MW citywide solar-plus-storage portfolio across 10 locations. This includes a 27 MW portfolio of on-site solar-plus-storage for its Department of Utilities at three of the City’s most energy-intensive utility sites: the Fresno-Clovis Regional Wastewater Reclamation Facility, the Northeast Surface Water Treatment Facility, and the Southeast Surface Water Treatment Facility. The 19.6 MW system at the Regional Wastewater Reclamation Facility is the largest commercial behind-the-meter solar-plus-storage system of its kind in the nation and offsets 75% of the facility's energy load.

"The extraordinary success the City of Fresno has experienced with our sustainability journey is only possible because of the partnership with ForeFront Power," said Ann Kloose, Sustainability Division Manager. "It is an honor to share the Beacon Leadership and Innovation Award for Leadership in Climate Resilience and Adaptation with the team at ForeFront that has made this happen."

The Beacon Award judging committee was impressed by Fresno's implementation of its Climate Action Plan and its associated energy efficiency improvements, air quality protection efforts, and renewable energy projects. These sustainability efforts have resulted in:

• Over 21 million kWh offset annually through efficiency upgrades, including the conversion of 43,000 streetlights to LED and projects at 76 facilities since 2019
• More than $61 million in capital improvements delivered with no upfront cost to the City
• Solar and battery systems generating roughly 47 million kWh annually—enough to power more than 8,000 homes—and avoiding more than 26,000 metric tons of CO₂ each year
• The City's renewable energy offset rising from 1.7% in 2020 to more than 46% in 2026, effectively achieving its 50% renewable energy goal
• More than 190 local, prevailing-wage jobs, including 120 union construction jobs
• Combined projected savings to taxpayers of more than $298 million over 20 years

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The Beacon Program is free and open to cities, counties, and special districts in all stages of climate action planning and implementation. Currently, over 180 California cities, counties, and special districts participate. 

For more information about the Beacon Program, visit www.ca-ilg.org/BeaconProgram.

For a complete list of participant achievements, please visit www.ca-ilg.org/award-winners.

To find out more about the City of Fresno's Sustainability Division, visit www.fresno.gov/publicworks/sustainability.

Read more about the 2026 Beacon Leadership and Innovation Award winners in Public CEO.