Public Power - October 2008 - (Page 31)

tomer rebates for efficient appliances to financial incentives to developers for LEED-certified construction and rehab. A new green building ordinance requires a 20 percent increase in energy efficiency for all new construction. LADWP is also taking full use of its natural advantages—abundant sunshine and proximity to deserts, windy mountaintops and a world-class geothermal field—and will reach, according to General Manager David Nahai, 20 percent renewables by 2010. Beyond reducing carbon, Nahai wants a diversified energy portfolio as a hedge Wind energy is the biggest renewable piece in Los Angeles Department of Water and Power’s resource portfolio, said General Manager David Nahai. against market volatility, especially in fuel prices. A piece of that diversified portfolio will be distributed power, which also helps ease pressure on an increasingly congested grid. Having already committed to spend $300 million on 280 megawatts of rooftop photovoltaic solar, LADWP is now expanding beyond individually owned installations to a model of cooperative ownership of solar panels, aimed particularly at less affluent communities living in multi-family dwellings. Though Los Angeles offers the largest rebates in the state for solar panels, a homeowner still has to come up with at least half the cost, which can run around $25,000. “Some already label it the rich man’s fuel—90210 power,” said Nahai. “We need to make it available to cut power bills for those who can least afford the cost of installation.” For larger scale generation, the biggest near-term chunk will come from wind: LADWP is building the largest municipally owned wind farm in the nation, has purchased another 12,000 acres to add more turbines and is negotiating for more property still, all in the Tehachapi Mountains. Solar thermal projects are next in www.APPAnet.org line, with several 250-megawatt proposals under consideration. The utility also plans to increase biogas co-firing in natural gas plants; methane captured from its Hyperion wastewater treatment plant already produces 80 percent of the electricity produced at the Scattergood Generating Station. Further out, a pilot project conceived and implemented by a sanitation engineer—to inject biosolids, a byproduct from wastewater treatment, into depleted oil and gas reservoirs 5,000 feet below Terminal Island—is in the works. The high pressure and temperatures at that depth turn the biosolids into biogas, which is used to power a 1megawatt fuel cell; the process also reduces the emissions and costs of dewatering the wastes and trucking them to landfills. The most ambitious—and controversial—project Los Angeles has under development aims to tap the vast geothermal resource in the Salton Sea, estimated at more than 2,000 megawatts of potential base load power. The controversy centers on the new transmission line, Greenpath, proposed to transport the power into the city. Several environmental groups have opposed the line, citing the fragility of habitats like the Big Marengo, designated an area of “critical environmental concern,” and the vulnerability of endangered species like the desert tortoise. Nahai said LADWP is committed to working with the community to find ways to truly minimize impacts. Options now under consideration include putting the line underground through sensitive areas, or routing it along the freeway. To allay concerns that Greenpath may be a kind of Trojan horse, ultimately intended to facilitate new fossil fuel generation, he has committed to use it exclusively for renewable energy. Wisconsin, Austin and Los Angeles share many advantages in making the move to low-carbon energy. All have abundant local resources, and all serve communities strongly committed to tackling global warming. All have political leaders who recognize that utilities can’t do it alone, and are using other public policy levers as well. Because water pumping and treatment uses OCTOBER 2008 31 http://www.assocsys.com http://www.APPAnet.org

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Public Power - October 2008

Public Power - October 2008 Contents Perspective 10 Questions The Future of Fuels in a Carbon-Constrained World An Energy Revolution Energy Policy in 2009 and Beyond A Green Reincarnation Beyond the Green Bandwagon Reliability Green Energy Community Broadband Customer Service Hometown Connections Human Resources Parting Shot

Public Power - October 2008

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