The City Commission votes Friday, Nov. 6, on rescinding its 2021 Net Zero Policy after a new state law barred such goals. A new energy policy would replace it.

The Fort Lauderdale City Commission will vote Friday, Nov. 6, on rescinding the city’s Net Zero Policy. The policy set goals for net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2040 for city operations and by 2050 citywide.

City staff recommend replacing it with an Energy Resilience and Affordability Policy. The item is R-2 on the agenda for the 6 p.m. meeting.

Why it is on the agenda

A state law forces the change, according to the city’s agenda memo. The Legislature passed CS/HB 1217 in its 2026 session. It took effect July 1. The memo said the law “prohibits governmental entities from enacting or enforcing net zero policies or using public funds to advance them.”

The draft resolution goes further. It said the new law “has effectively voided” the city’s policy. The vote would put that on the record and rescind it formally.

What the city is giving up

The commission adopted the Net Zero Policy on Dec. 21, 2021, as Resolution 21-280. The city’s Sustainability Advisory Board had recommended the goal years. The resolution also backed joining ICLEI’s Race to Zero initiative.

The memo lists what came after it:

  • money in the 2023 budget year to write a Net Zero Plan
  • the plan itself, presented to the commission in March 2025
  • electric vehicles added to the city fleet
  • solar panels installed
  • programs promoting energy efficiency in the community

Earlier city goals were smaller. The 2011 Sustainability Action Plan set a 20% cut in emissions by 2020. The 2020 comprehensive plan set an 80% cut by 2050, the 2021 resolution said.

What would replace it

The new policy would put initiatives first that:

  • make energy more resilient and affordable, in city operations and the wider community
  • reduce life-cycle costs
  • promote domestic energy sources, including renewable energy

The wording follows Florida’s state energy policy in Section 377.601 of the Florida Statutes, the memo said. Staff list no fiscal impact for the 2027 budget year.

Also on the Nov. 6 agenda

  • Beach wave wall lights: a $770,449.04 contract with Iconic Media Systems, doing business as Smart LED Concepts, to replace the fiber optic lights on about 2.6 miles of wave wall along A1A. The lights run from the Fort Lauderdale Beach Park entrance to about NE 18th Street. The memo said the old system is obsolete and hard to repair. City crews would install the new one.
  • Meeting start times: a first reading of an ordinance letting the commission start its regular meetings at any time from 9 a.m., instead of the 1 p.m. now in the city code. On Oct. 20 commissioners asked for a 1:30 p.m. start, according to the city attorney’s memo.
  • Sewer repairs: agreements with several vendors worth $62,875,000 over an initial two years for citywide sewer camera inspections and inflow and infiltration repairs, which stop groundwater and rainwater getting into sewer pipes.
  • Riverland street lights: an agreement with Florida Power & Light for LED street lighting in the Riverland neighborhood.

What it means for you

  • The meeting is not at City Hall. It starts at 6 p.m. Friday, Nov. 6, in Community Room 1004 at the Fort Lauderdale Police Department, 1300 W. Broward Blvd. Speakers sign up in the police department lobby, the agenda said.
  • Watch it on the city’s FLTV stream, its YouTube channel or Comcast channel 78 and AT&T U-verse channel 99.
  • No new cost is listed. The memo shows no fiscal impact for the 2027 budget year. City tax rates are on our property taxes page.
  • To reach your commissioner before the vote, see who to call at City Hall.

The city’s flood and sea-level work, including the stormwater projects in Riverland and Melrose Manors, is covered in our stormwater contracts story.