A city panel voted Tuesday to sell off the Department of Water and Power’s share in an Arizona coal plant as part of a plan to comply with state regulations and reduce Los Angeles’ dependence on coal-related energy.
The Los Angeles Board of Water and Power Commissioners approved an agreement with the Salt River Project to sell the DWP’s 21 percent share in the Navajo Generating Station.
The agreement calls for power deliveries — amounting to 477 megawatts — from the plan to stop by July 2016.
The move will cut greenhouse gas emissions by 5.39 million metric tons over the next 3 1/2 years, which would put the city ahead of schedule on state mandates, city officials estimate.
“This is an important step toward cleaner air, addressing climate change and creating a clean energy future for Los Angeles,” Mayor Eric Garcetti said.
The sale is “just the latest example of L.A.’s national leadership in carbon reduction and climate change action, taking us one step closer to my goal of getting L.A. off coal by 2025,” the mayor said.
Mel Levine, president of the board, said the agreement means that the city will be able to comply earlier with SB 1368 and the Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006, or AB 32, which set up a cap-and-trade system for cutting emissions of greenhouse gas.
LADWP General Manager Marcie Edwards said she is pleased that the Salt River Project has also agreed to close one unit at the Navajo Generating Station.
“It is important to us that the environmental benefits of the agreement extend beyond the city of Los Angeles to the area in which the plant is located,” Edwards said.
— City News Service