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Executive Summary

This report shows that air pollution is projected to increase as a result of the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power's (DWP) planned repowering of local power plants, based on information contained in DWP's Environmental Impact Reports and 2000 Integrated Resources Plan.

This projected increase is due to the planned replacement of little used and small, peaking plants (used only during high demand periods) with large, baseload (operating all day and yearround) plants, resulting in a net increase in air pollution.

The projected increases in global warming and smogforming pollution could be avoided or reduced if DWP were to reduce future energy demands with customerside conservation and energy efficiency while shifting to a greater use of renewable energy.

This analysis shows that on average, projected emissions from all four plants could increase 126% and 128% for smog-forming and global warming pollution, respectively, above 1995 levels by 2010. 1

The projected rise is sharpest at Valley Generating Station (Valley), in the Sun Valley region. As Chart 1.1 shows, smog-forming pollution (Nitrogen Oxides) at Valley is projected to increase by approximately 1400% between 1995 and 2004, according to projections within DWP s Environmental Impact Report. These increases come at a time when Sun Valley faces high childhood asthma rates and is home to several other large sources of air pollution.

The overall increase in air pollution is projected to occur, despite the addition of new pollution controls, due to two factors — increased use and increased capacity. Older power plants have been replaced with new larger turbines that are permitted for year-round use and not limited to operation during peak demand only. This combination of increased use and increased capacity allows DWP not only to meet the energy needs of Los Angeles, but also to sell excess power to other utilities.

The projected increase in carbon dioxide threatens DWP's goal of maintaining its global warming pollution levels of 1990 as stipulated in the Los Angeles Climate Action Plan. Moreover, the projected increase in nitrogen oxide pollution from levels of nearly a decade ago conflicts with South Coast Air Quality Management District's call for a reduction of smog-forming pollution to 50% of 1997 levels by 2010 in order to meet national health standards and avoid billions of dollars in federal sanctions.

Policy Recommendations
Los Angeles need not sacrifice public health or increase global warming emissions in order to provide affordable and reliable electricity. Instead of deepening its dependence on fossil fuels, the City's utility should increase its use of cost-competitive and reliable renewable energy, combined with increasing investments in energy efficiency, conservation and ultraclean micropower to contain growth in demand.

By shifting to these clean alternatives, Los Angeles can protect public health, ratepayers, and create more jobs. Currently DWP gets only 2.4% of its power from renewable energy, well below the state average of 12%, as seen in Chart 1.2. Instead of increasing reliance on natural gas or other fossil fuels, DWP should adopt a Renewable Portfolio Standard that increases its share of power coming from eligible renewable resources by at least 1% each year, with a goal of at least 20% clean energy no later than 2017. DWP should also continue its investment in energy efficiency and ultraclean micropower technologies to reduce energy demand.

Note
1 It is useful to analyze pollution trends over the past ten years as opposed to comparing today s emission levels to those of the 1980s and early 1990s for several reasons. The most important is the fact that it was in 1995 that the DWP's natural gas power plants were enrolled in the RECLAIM trading program with the intended goal of reducing emissions by 2005. It could be argued that 1997 is a more relevant year because SCAQMD used actual emissions from this year as the baseline in setting the goal of reducing smog-forming emissions by 50% by 2010 in its latest air management plan. Lastly, today s emissions of smog-forming pollutants are dramatically lower than they were in the 1980 s because the old power plants burned oil instead of natural gas and their emissions were largely uncontrolled.