LA Pledges to Close Aging Gas Plants in Favor of 100% Clean Energy

(LOS ANGELES – February 12, 2019) The Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (LADWP) announced a groundbreaking decision to retire three aging fossil gas plants in favor of investing 100 percent in clean energy. Instead of investing in the Haynes, Harbor and Scattergood plants to meet the requirements of a 2010 law related to a practice known as once through cooling (OTC), the utility will take the plants permanently off line.Once completed, LAWDP’s decision to close the plants will reduce California’s greenhouse gas emissions by 2 million metric tons annually, equivalent to taking 425,000 vehicles off the road.

“Retiring these gas plants mean LADWP’s four million customers will get to enjoy healthier air and reliable, affordable clean energy. The less we rely on aging gas infrastructure, the safer our communities will be. The fact that the nation’s largest municipal electric utility is making this commitment shows how real the opportunities are for utilities across the country to invest more in clean energy alternatives today.”

• Tim O’Connor, Senior Director of EDF’s California Energy Program