Climate Solutions
L.A. council orders solar rooftop measure drafted
L.A. TIMES. OCT 28, 2008. By David Zahniser.
If the council OKs it by Nov. 7, the initiative to add solar panels would be on the March ballot. The panels would provide 400 megawatts to commercial and other buildings by 2013.
The Los Angeles City Council voted Tuesday to draft a solar rooftop measure for the March 3 ballot, even though officials with the Department of Water and Power still don't know what the initiative would do to electrical rates.
On a 14-0 vote, the council instructed City Atty. Rocky Delgadillo to write the ballot language for the solar plan, which was crafted in large part by officials at the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, the union that represents DWP employees.
Although DWP officials said the plan could cost anywhere from $1.5 billion to $3 billion, they have not yet produced a rate study that explains whether it would lead to higher electricity bills.
"Unfortunately, we don't have the time to fully understand and analyze this proposal," said Councilman Richard Alarcon, who voted to draft the ballot measure anyway.
The council must decide by Nov. 7 whether to put the initiative on the ballot. DWP General Manager H. David Nahai said he expected to know before then whether the plan would lead to rate increases.
The DWP has already made decisions that will cause ratepayers' electric bills to rise nearly 24% from 2006 to 2010, with some of the proceeds helping to pay for renewable energy. Under the solar proposal, the city would add rooftop panels capable of producing 400 megawatts to commercial, industrial and governmental buildings by 2013. Each panel would be owned by the DWP and installed by DWP workers.
The ballot measure, known formally as the Green Energy and Good Jobs for Los Angeles Act of 2008, was sponsored by the labor advocacy group Working Californians and quickly embraced by Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and the City Council. Working Californians spokesman Bob Cherry said he doesn't expect ratepayers to face an additional burden from the solar plan.
"The DWP has money budgeted right now, under the current rate structure, for additional energy generation," he said. "They can just put that into solar."
No representative of any environmental group testified during Tuesday's hearing. Two solar advocates stood in the back of the council chamber monitoring the discussion.
"I'm still not convinced that the financing plan has been explained," said Mary Luevano, a legislative advocate for the group Global Green USA.