With the City of LA facing possible bankruptcy over a controversial LADWP “carbon surcharge,” LAist reports on a new study that says Los Angeles could generate 500 megawatts (3% of its energy needs) in 10 years for just $23 million a year using solar panels installed within the City.
According to LAist, a renewable energy program costing $23 million annually would cost the LADWP electricity customers an average $1.37 a month.
In contrast, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa’s plan proposes just 150 megawatts of local solar power while investing heavily in industrial solar generation facilities in the desert.
The report was published by the Los Angeles Business Council and the UCLA Luskin Center for Innovation with a goal “to provide guidance on how to design an effective feed-in tariff that is tailored to the needs of Greater Los Angeles.”
Based on successful programs in Sacramento, Vermont, Germany and Spain, the report recommends that LADWP “buy solar power that residents, businesses and public organizations produce by installing solar on their roof-tops, parking lots and vacant land.”
