NEWS RELEASE: San José Ranked #1 Greenest City in the U.S. by WalletHub

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT Oshi Jauco, Public Information Manager, San José Clean Energy 408-533-3764, [email protected] San José Ranked #1 Greenest City in the U.S. by WalletHub SAN JOSE, Calif. (October 24, 2025) - The City of San José is proud to announce that it has been ranked the #1 Greenest City in the United States for 2025, according to WalletHub's annual independent study. This ranking recognizes San José's bold climate goals, strong community engagement, and the City's leadership in delivering clean, renewable electricity to nearly one million residents and businesses. "This national recognition celebrates the City's One Team commitment across all departments to achieving the City's goals for clean and sustainable air, land, and energy," said City Manager Jennifer Maguire. "Through programs like San José Clean Energy and Climate Smart San José, we are building a healthier, more resilient city for generations to come." San José scored a 95 out of 100 in WalletHub's Energy Sources category, recognizing the City's ongoing effort to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by powering homes, businesses, and public transit with renewable electricity. At the heart of this success is San José Clean Energy (SJCE), the local, not-for-profit electricity generation provider for homes and businesses, operated by the City's Energy Department. SJCE provides over 60% renewable energy by default to every customer, nearly twice that of investor-owned utility competitors. They also offer customers the option to upgrade to 100% renewable energy with their TotalGreen premium service. "San José has never waited for someone else to solve big challenges - we lead," said Mayor Matt Mahan. "From carbon neutrality goals to launching a community choice energy program that delivers some of the cleanest power in the country, we do not lead to chase titles but to ensure a cleaner, more sustainable city for generations to come." This top ranking recognizes the progress made through Climate Smart San José, the city's climate action plan approved in 2018. The plan sets ambitious targets to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, expand renewable energy, and electrify housing and transportation across the city. Since 2008, the City has reduced its greenhouse gas emissions by over 2.5 million metric tons annually, with its sharpest reductions in the transportation and electricity sectors. San José received a high rank in WalletHub's Transportation category as well, in part due to its adoption of electric vehicles, which led the nation in 2024 with 40% of new car registrations being electric. "San José Clean Energy is proud to play a foundational role in our City's clean energy initiative," said Lori Mitchell, Director of SJCE. "Our work in large-scale solar, wind, battery storage, and customer programs enables households, businesses, and public infrastructure to connect with cleaner, more reliable power." San José's community-driven and cross-departmental approach is working to meet its bold climate goals. By aligning energy, transportation, and policy under one vision, San José shows what's possible when a city commits to sustainability at every level. About the City of San José With almost 1 million residents, San José is one of the most diverse large cities in the United States, Northern California's largest city, and the 12th largest city in the nation. San José's transformation into a global innovation center has resulted in one of the largest concentrations of technology companies and expertise in the world. About San José Clean Energy San José Clean Energy (SJCE) is the local, not-for-profit electricity generation provider for homes and businesses in the City of San José. SJCE is operated by the City's Energy Department and governed by the City Council. SJCE provides more than 350,000 customer accounts with clean energy at competitive rates plus the additional benefits of customer choice, community programs, local control, transparency, and accountability. For more information, please visit https://www.SanJoseCleanEnergy.org. Follow us on Facebook, X, Instagram, and LinkedIn. @SJCleanEnergy. About Climate Smart San José Climate Smart San José (Climate Smart), adopted by the City Council in 2018, lays out how San José is addressing climate change. It's a community wide initiative to reduce air pollution, save water and improve quality of life. Climate Smart is one of the first detailed city plans for reaching the targets of the international Paris Agreement. To get there, Climate Smart set ambitious goals for energy, water, transportation and local jobs. In November 2021, City Council set a goal of communitywide carbon neutrality by 2030, thereby accelerating Climate Smart, and approved the City's Pathway to Carbon Neutrality by 2030 in June 2022. # # #