In the last four years, we quadrupled our renewable energy portfolio. We’ve removed 2,000 dirty diesel trucks from the Port and sent them to the junkyard and we’ve left much of the world in the dust by beating the Kyoto targets four years ahead of schedule.
It’s now time to meet the carbon challenge.
Our second goal for the next four years is to put LA on a path to permanently break our addiction to coal. Moving forward, we’re aiming to get 40 percent of our power from renewable sources by 2020 and 60 percent carbon-free by the end of the next decade.
Mayor Villaraigosa
Second Inaugural Address
July 1, 2009
In the next four years, Mayor Villaraigosa will:
Our environmental initiatives for the next four years will focus on clean air, clean energy, and conservation of energy and water, all of which contribute to a reduction in carbon emissions.
• CLEAN POWER: Coal-free and 60% carbon reduction
Presently, the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power relies on coal and natural gas to produce 76% of the energy it provides to customers. Large hydroelectric, nuclear, and renewable sources account for the balance. For the calendar year 2008, renewables met 8% of our energy demands, a share that will increase significantly in 2009 as major new wind projects come online. Total carbon emissions from energy generated to serve LADWP customers is estimated to be almost 16 million metric tons.
The threat of climate change, carbon regulation, and ever-growing demand for oil from China and other developing countries will make our dependence on fossil fuels unsustainable in the long-term. As we shift towards more renewables, we will reduce our exposure to higher fuel costs and forthcoming climate change regulation. We expect to meet our current goal of achieving 20% renewables by 2010.
We’ve set two ambitious new goals to reinvent LADWP as the cleanest and greenest public utility in the US:
- o Los Angeles will be a coal-free City in 2020. As nation’s largest municipally owned utility, LADWP will deliver 40% renewable power, with the remainder coming from natural gas, nuclear, and large hydroelectric.
o Wider use of solar, wind, and geothermal technology will reduce LADWP’s carbon-emissions by up to 60% from 1990 levels.
• CLEAN AIR: Reducing pollution at the Port and along Port-serving freeways
Air pollution is a regional problem that has been traditionally addressed with policies at the state and federal level. Yet during Mayor Villaraigosa’s first term, the City of Los Angeles took the lead in attacking one of the region’s most acute air pollution problems, the soot emitted by diesel trucks that bring cargo to and from the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach.
From October 2008 through May 2009, the Clean Trucks Program replaced 4,500 dirty diesel trucks with new or retrofitted trucks that emit far less pollution. During the second half of 2009, most of the remaining fleet will also be replaced, resulting in dramatically lower air pollution levels in the harbor area and neighborhoods along the freeways that serve the ports.
With full implementation of the Port Clean Air Action Plan and the development of the Port’s Climate Action Plan, the Port will meet ambitious air pollution targets of a 45% reduction of particulate matter; 47% reduction of NOX; 52% reduction of SOX, and a significant reduction in carbon emissions. In order to meet these goals, the Port will need to aggressively replace diesel trucks and equipment inside the port area with electric powered machinery. The development of this new kind of equipment will produce high paying green jobs in the region, such as the new Balqon electric truck plant located just a few miles north of the harbor.
• WATER AND ENERGY CONSERVATION: reduce consumption by 10% in ten years
Water Conservation
Our history of water conservation tells us that despite an increase of more than 1 million people since the late 1980s, the City’s water consumption has remained steady. But continuing drought conditions force us to create new ways to conserve. In the next 10 years, the City will cut both its water and energy consumption by 10%. With increased incentives from the LADWP, residents and businesses will have access to:
o New rebate programs for drought resistant landscaping.
o Increased use and availability of recycled water from 9,200 to 22,000 acre feet by 2014. To supply this recycled water, we will be adding 20 miles of “purple pipe” infrastructure by 2013.
Energy Efficiency
It is well-known that it is cheaper to reduce energy demand than to build a new power plant. In 2009, LADWP surpassed its previous energy efficiency record, and is on-track to reach a new savings high of 274 gigawatt-hours (gWh) - enough energy to power almost 46,000 homes for a year and reduce carbon emissions by more than 153,000 metric tons.
Residents and businesses will expect to see:
o Increased investment in the Low Income Refrigerator Exchange Program. So far, this effort has exchanged over 42,000 inefficient refrigerators with new energy efficient models that have resulted in saving over 31.8 gigawatt-hours (gWh) of energy. This represents enough energy to power 6,350 homes for a year and reduce and reduce carbon emissions by 21,410 metric tons. The refrigerators are free to qualified low income customers and help save both power and money.
o Small Business Direct Install Program - offering up to $2,500 in free energy efficient lighting equipment to those businesses that would be financially challenged to upgrade their inefficient equipment. To date, this program has assisted over 37,000 small businesses save energy and lower their bills, as well as save 88.5 gigawatt-hours (gWh) of energy. This energy savings is enough to power 14,750 homes for a year and reduce carbon emissions by 40,731 metric tons.
o Consumer Rebate Program - providing cash rebates to residential customers purchasing products that meet or exceed Energy Star® efficiency standards.
• GREEN BUILDING: Retrofit to Conserve Energy and Create Local Jobs
Buildings in the United States consume two-thirds of the nation’s electricity production, thus generating 30% of our Greenhouse Gas emissions. In recent years, the City has built more than fifty new libraries, police and fire stations and animal control facilities to the strict LEED green building standard However, many of our existing City buildings were designed and built in previous eras, and can benefit from improvements to reduce electricity and water consumption.
The City of Los Angeles owns approximately 1000 buildings, many of which can be retrofitted to conserve energy and water. In the next four years, the City will implement a Green Building Retrofit and Green Jobs Development Program to:
o Retrofit a portion of city-owned buildings and public spaces to meet Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) standard; and,
o Create new green jobs in Los Angeles to perform the retrofitting work.
Since the expected lifetime of a new building is about 100 years, actions taken today during this period of rapid expansion will have lasting repercussions on the ability to achieve long-term sustainability.