News
Los Angeles mayor Villaraigosa's proposal aims to have solar power meet one-tenth of L.A.'s energy needs by 2020. The move is meant to help L.A.'s Department of Water and Power (the largest municipal utility in the U.S.) wean itself off of fossil fuels as part of the effort to address global warming.
[This is an EXCERPT: read the whole article here. For more details, see Mayor Villaraigosa's press release. -Ed.]
By David Zahniser and Phil Willon
Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa unveiled an ambitious long-range plan Monday for securing enough solar power to meet one-tenth of the city's energy needs by 2020, a move aimed at making L.A. a hub of the solar-energy industry.
The plan calls for enough solar panels to produce 1,280 megawatts of power, a goal that would be reached through a combination of private and public generating facilities and the installation of solar panels on homes.
"Nobody's contemplated that many megawatts for one city," said Rhonda Mills, Southern California director of the Center for Energy Efficiency and Renewable Technologies and a solar power advocate.
Villaraigosa said the solar plan could lead to higher rates as soon as 2011. But City Council President Eric Garcetti noted that coal, one of the DWP's cheapest -- and most polluting -- energy sources, will also become more expensive as Congress moves to impose a carbon tax.
"Coal is not going to be the same price that it is today," he said.
