Solar in the Southland

Solar in the Southland The Benefits of Achieving 20 Percent Local Solar Power in Los Angeles by 2020 Solar in the Southland The Benefits of Achieving 20 Percent Local Solar Power in Los Angeles by 2020 Environment California Research & Policy Center Michelle Kinman, Environment California Research & Policy Center Spring 2013 Acknowledgments Environment California Research & Policy Center would like to thank Cecilia Aguillon, CALSEIA; James Brennan, Open Neighborhoods; Susannah Churchill, Vote Solar; Evan Gillespie, Sierra Club; Craig Lewis, Clean Coalition; Nehzat Motallebi, California Air Resources Board; Hilary Pearson, Sungevity; and Mark Smith, Solar Forward for their insightful comments on drafts of this report. Additional thanks to Scott Briasco, LADWP; JR DeShazo, UCLA Luskin Center for Innovation; Joe O’Hagan and John Maulbetsch, California Energy Commission; and Earl Landberg, Dave Mehl and John Swanton, Cali- fornia Air Resources Board for guidance on specific data in this report. Finally, thanks to Bernadette Del Chiaro at Environment California Research & Policy Center, Rob Sargent at Environment America Research & Policy Center and Tony Dutzik, Elizabeth Ridlington and especially Travis Madsen at Frontier Group for guidance and editorial assistance. The generous support of the Arntz Family Foundation, Energy Foundation, Fred Gellert Family Foundation, and the Tilia Foundation made this report possible. The opinions expressed in this report are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of our funders or those who provided review. Any factual errors are strictly the responsibility of the author. © 2013 Environment California Research & Policy Center Environment California Research & Policy Center is a 501(c)(3) organization. We are dedicated to protecting California’s air, water and open spaces. We investigate problems, craft solutions, educate the public and decision makers, and help Californians make their voices heard in local, state and national debates over the quality of our environment and our lives. For more information about Environment California Research & Policy Center, please visit our Web site at www.environmentcaliforniacenter.org. Cover image: John Musolino Layout: Harriet Eckstein Graphic Design Table of Contents Executive Summary 1 Introduction 4 Los Angeles Has Immense Potential for Solar Energy 6 Solar Power Can Help Clean the Air and Reduce Global Warming 6 Solar Power Saves Water 8 Solar Power Can Create Jobs and Save Consumers Money 8 Conclusion & Policy Recommendations 13 Los Angeles Can Help California to Achieve its Overall Clean Energy Goals 13 Moving Toward a Clean Energy Future for Los Angeles 14 Notes 16 Executive Summary s anyone who has flown into Los An- metric tons of global warming pollu- geles International Airport knows, tion, which is comparable to eliminat- Athe city has a staggering amount of ing the tailpipe emissions of 230,000 flat, empty roof space. For an average of 260 passenger vehicles. days each year, the sun bathes those rooftops in virtually endless amounts of light. • In addition, installing this amount of However, most of that energy goes unused. solar power would prevent the emis- Only one percent of Los Angeles’s electric- sion of over 730,000 pounds of smog- ity currently comes from solar power.1 forming pollution per year. More than any other city in the country, Los Angeles could benefit from a robust mar- Building 1,200 MW of local solar ket for rooftop solar power on homes, office power would conserve valuable water. buildings, schools, warehouses, parking lots, and more. Solar power can benefit our envi- • Solar panels generate electricity ronment, our health and our economy—pro- without using any water beyond that viding cleaner air, reducing global warming, needed for occasional washing. conserving water and creating jobs. To capture these benefits, Los Angeles’s • If 1,200 MW of rooftop solar dis- leaders should adopt a visionary goal of placed electricity generated from installing 1,200 megawatts of local solar natural gas power plants, it would save power generation capacity by 2020. an estimated 435 million gallons of water per year.2 Powering Los Angeles with 1,200 megawatts (MW) of local solar power Installing 1,200 MW of local solar would help clean the air and reduce power would create jobs and save An- global warming pollution. gelenos money. • Reaching this goal would prevent the • Building 1,200 MW of local solar annual emission of over 1.1 million by 2020 would create approximately Executive Summary 32,000 job-years of employment. • 1,200 MW is approximately 20 To put this number in context, the percent of the Los Angeles Depart- University of California, Los Ange- ment of Water & Power’s (LADWP) les—which ranks among the city’s summertime peak energy needs.5 This leading employers—has a workforce of much local solar energy could power just under 32,000 people. approximately 300,000 Los Angeles homes.6 • Incentives have made it possible for the Los Angeles Unified School • Twelve hundred megawatts also rep- District to invest in a solar energy resents LADWP’s load-proportionate system that, when complete, will save share of Governor Brown’s goal of an average of up to $800,000 each installing 12,000 MW of local clean month in electricity costs. Offering power across the state by 2020. continued incentives will enable more Los Angeles consumers to bring their To achieve this goal: energy bills down to zero, or near zero, saving significant money over • The Mayor and the City Council the long run. should provide clear, strong and consistent direction and support to Building 1,200 MW of local solar LADWP to achieve the 1,200 MW power in Los Angeles by 2020 is an local solar power goal and secure the achievable goal. city’s clean energy future. • Los Angeles rooftops could hold an • LADWP should fully implement and estimated 5,500 megawatts (MW) maintain the integrity of the 150 MW of solar panels.3 Those panels could feed-in tariff program by 2016 and produce enough electricity to power expand the program to achieve 600 1.3 million homes.4 MW by 2020. Los Angeles’s Rooftop Solar Potential Remaining Installed Solar Solar Power Capacity as of Feb 2013 Potential Los Angeles rooftops could hold an estimated 5,500 megawatts (MW) of solar panels, of which a mere fraction has been utilized. As of the end of February 2013, LADWP had installed 68 MW under the Solar Incentive Program. 2 Solar in the Southland This residential solar array overlooks the downtown Los Angeles skyline. Credit: Graham Owen, Ameco Solar • LADWP should meet and exceed for solar power, and low-income the 280 MW capacity goal originally consumers. set forth for the utility under Cali- fornia’s Million Solar Roofs Initia- • LADWP should standardize and ac- tive (SB 1). The utility can achieve celerate methods for permitting and and exceed this goal by providing interconnection procedures. expanded rebates for Angelenos to go solar on their own homes and • LADWP should work with consumers businesses, as well as expand con- and solar installers within LADWP sumer access to net metering. territory to improve communication and the transparency of the utility’s • LADWP should diversify the city’s solar programs. solar energy consumer base. For example, LADWP should create • City leaders should continue to sup- policies specifically designed to help port efforts to improve the quality and non-profit consumers who cannot expand the reach of green job training take advantage of federal tax credits programs in Los Angeles to train the for solar energy systems, renters or next generation of local workers to help those whose roofs are not well suited build the city’s clean energy future. Executive Summary Introduction olar energy makes perfect sense for three-quarters of respondents wanted at Los Angeles. least half of the city’s electricity supply to S Solar energy is clean, safe and come from renewable energy.7 smart. Environmentally, solar energy Other California cities are showing how reduces the air pollution caused by burn- to get the job done. San Diego is leading ing coal, gas or oil to generate electric- Los Angeles in terms of its total number of ity—including pollution that contributes rooftop solar energy projects. Smaller cities to global warming. Economically, solar like Santa Rosa and Clovis have 10 times energy helps break our costly dependence more solar generation capacity per capita on fossil fuels and creates local jobs that than Los Angeles.8 cannot be outsourced. Now is the time for Los Angeles to Los Angeles has all of the ingredients commit to a solar-powered future. State necessary to become the solar power capital law mandates that LADWP must end its of the nation: an abundance of sunshine; reliance on coal, which currently accounts leading solar innovators; one of the nation’s for approximately 40 percent of the city’s most ambitious mandates to reduce global electricity supply.9 The city’s own plan warming pollution; and strong coalitions will result in a coal-free Los Angeles by of government, business and nonprofit 2025—two years ahead of the state’s dead- leaders. line.10 At the same time, LADWP will Los Angeles also has a publicly-owned either need to retire or modify its gas-fired utility, the Los Angeles Department of power plants—which currently account Water & Power (LADWP), which is sub- for 17 percent of the city’s electricity ject to public control. And, LADWP cus- supply—to comply with federal clean air tomers want more of their power to come standards and state restrictions on the use from the sun. In a 2012 poll, more than 85 of once-through cooling technology, which percent of responding LADWP customers is harmful to fish and aquatic ecosystems, agreed that more of the utility’s energy and wastes limited water supplies.11 In ad- should come from solar power.

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