Southern Sierran
L.A.'S CLEAN ENERGY PACE NEEDS A BOOST
Getting off dirty coal requires investing now in a smarter energy future that puts Angelenos to work.

For decades Los Angeles' coal addiction has taken a toll far beyond our city limits.

Two years ago, nine men died in Utah's Crandall mine disaster. They were victims of rapacious mining to feed the boilers of the Intermountain Power Project, the enormous coal-burning plant that provides over 25% of L.A.'s electricity.

Since the disaster, our coal habit has continued, burning an average of over 24 million pounds of coal a day. The coal plants we buy power from pollute national parks and pump out more than 400 pounds of toxic mercury and 36 million tons of global-warming carbon dioxide yearly.

Our reliance on coal means that every time we turn on a light or run a fan we are poisoning the earth and endangering people's health. Mercury damages children's neurological systems and particulate air pollution increases the risk of heart attacks, strokes, and asthma.

The two coal plants supplying Los Angeles with 44% of its power are far away, making it easy for Angelenos to let others pay the price of "cheap" coal. But impending regulation of carbon emissions and further tightening of pollution controls on coal plants and mining will push the dirty fuel's cost closer to its true price.

The dangers and expense of coal led Mayor Villaraigosa to take a bold step this year, announcing that L.A. will end its coal contracts by 2020 and get 40% of its electricity from renewable energy. He earlier announced America's most ambitious municipal solar plan, which commits to providing 10% of the city's electricity with solar energy by 2020.

Yet despite the urgent need to act, despite available world-class solar, wind, and geothermal sources in the region, and despite a mayor and city council cheering on renewable energy, we are not making the progress we need.

It's time for city leaders to get a handle on how Los Angeles will invest in the renewable sources and energy efficiency necessary to get off dirty coal.

Recently the city council rejected a Los Angeles Department of Water and Power bid to uncap the Energy Cost Adjustment Factor (ECAF). The surcharge on customers' bills allows LADWP to respond to fluctuating prices for coal, natural gas, and nuclear fuel, just as drivers budget for gyrating gasoline prices. The utility also uses ECAF to collect the money it needs to invest in renewable power and energy efficiency.

But the surcharge has been capped at a very low level that hasn't even covered fuel cost increases, let alone smarter energy investments. Revising the cap on ECAF is an appropriate way to fund these budget items so long as low-income ratepayers are protected and customers have real opportunities to make their homes or buildings more energy efficient. Getting more work from every electron purchased will help contain utility bill increases.

LADWP critics have blasted the surcharge restructuring, with some saying we should slow down the pace of getting off coal. That is exactly the wrong direction. Fossil fuels and nuclear power eat up well over half of the ECAF surcharge. Only one-fourth of ECAF goes to our best investment—a clean and efficient energy future. Once a solar panel or a wind turbine goes up, the fuel is free.

We need to get going. The mayor, the city council, and the utility must talk with each other more effectively and start fulfilling our city's great ambitions and needs. One place to begin is to revise the ECAF surcharge and let LADWP charge realistic rates, which are still below those of Southern California Edison, while providing transparency and accountability as to how the money is spent. Longer-term we will need to make sure that renewables and efficiency investments grow at the pace we need.

We must also balance our renewable energy investments so that our city gets both affordable clean energy and good local jobs installing solar facilities and making our homes and businesses more energy efficient. Private and public sectors of the city's economy should share the work, and that will take political leadership.

It's well past time to stop lining the pockets of out-of-state coal companies with no stake in our city's future and start investing in clean energy here at home. A sustained, diversified renewables and efficiency program will reward us with stable energy prices, a healthier planet, and good jobs.

If you want to join our campaign to kick dirty coal out of Los Angeles and all of southern California, contact me at bill.corcoran@sierraclub.org or call 213-387-6528 x208.

[top of page]