The Office of Recovery and Resilience, which transitioned from the Sustainability Department to its new structure on July 1, 2026, has published its Fiscal Year 2026 (FY26) Annual Report, covering July 1, 2025 to June 30, 2026. This reorganization supports meaningful integration of climate mitigation, adaptation and community resilience into long-term recovery from Helene, while the existing sustainability initiatives, projects and programs remain in the Office’s Resilience Division.
The shift will allow the Office to expand, recruiting two new team members and expanding opportunities for impact as we support the City’s ongoing commitment to effective recovery and resilience.
In addition to an overview of the new Office, the annual report includes example projects from recovery and resilience conducted in FY26 as they relate to our Municipal Climate Action Plan (MCAP) goals. The report also includes resilience and recovery metrics, and information regarding sustainability partnerships and initiatives, and future work.
For a quick snapshot of some of the report information, in FY26, 17 of 22 MCAP high impact activities were underway, while 27 of the 31 Helene recovery projects from the City of Asheville chapter of the Buncombe County Helene Recovery Plan were active, with the remaining 4 in development.
The City is also still on track for its 2% annual carbon reduction goal, supported by energy efficiency projects, increasing hybrid and EV deployment in our fleet, and renewable energy generation. However, further interventions will be required to meet the accelerated reduction goal that aims to have an 80% reduction by 2030.
Regarding the City’s 100% renewable energy goal, in FY26, the City produced ~548 megawatt-hours (MWhs) of energy from our solar photovoltaic installations, which is enough to power about 95 homes for a year. When that production is combined with the renewables on the Duke Energy Progress grid, the City’s average renewable energy usage in its facilities was ~14% for the year.
Check out the Annual Report for more details. To stay informed throughout the year, sign up for our quarterly newsletter and check out Asheville Recovers where you can sign up for our recovery newsletter. Together we thrive!