The Los Angeles City Council today took the historic step of requiring that 100 percent of the citys electricity come from clean, zero-carbon energy by 2035. The Los Angeles City Council today took the historic step of requiring that100 percent of the citys electricity come from clean, zero-carbon energy by 2035. Through amotion introduced by Councilmembers Paul Krekorian and Mitch OFarrell, the Los AngelesDepartment of Water and Power -- the largest municipally-owned utility in the country -- will leadthe nation in this ambitious and game-changing commitment to sustainable energy.The Council today also approved a related motion from OFarrell and Krekorian that will create astrategic plan for equitable workforce hiring, ensuring a just transition to thousands of green newjobs.
Todays actions are the outgrowth of a planning process initiated by Krekorian five years ago,through a motion he co-introduced with his colleague Mike Bonin. That process, which becameknown as LA100, involved unprecedented research and modeling in partnership with theNational Renewable Energy Laboratory. The study proved that 100 percent clean energy is notonly feasible, it is highly beneficial to the economy and jobs as well as the environment.
As the recent code red report from the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Changeindicates, we are in the midst of an environmental crisis with no parallel in recorded history,said Councilmember Krekorian. Governments and individuals around the world must acturgently to combat climate change. By its vote today, the Council has shown the world that LosAngeles is ready to lead this effort.
"This is not a crisis for the next generation; this is a crisis happening at this very moment - andLos Angeles is firmly committed to leading the way," said Councilmember O'Farrell, chair ofthe Council's Energy, Climate Change, Environmental Justice, & Los Angeles Rivercommittee. "The terrifying, destructive scale of recent disasters - wildfires, drought, andhurricanes - accelerated by our climate crisis underscores the necessity of today's actions. TheCity of Los Angeles, led by the City Council and our committee on the environment, is treatingthis crisis with the urgency it requires. We are also ensuring a just transition to thousands ofgreen new jobs with a focus on equity in the workforce."
The LA100 study was a unique and pioneering effort, unprecedented in scale and scope, tomodel a grid as complicated as L.A.s, said President Cynthia McClain-Hill, Board of Waterand Power Commissioners. The study showed us several viable pathways for achieving100% renewable and carbon-free energy by 2035 at the earliest. Now, with support of ourMayor, our City Council, and many community members and stakeholders across the city, wereready to take the next steps toward a 100% clean energy future. Most importantly, we will begina study of how to achieve 100% clean power while ensuring equity of the projects, programs,and services that will be developed as we move forward on this path.
This is truly a great day for Los Angeles that puts our city firmly in a leadership position amongworld cities working to decarbonize the planet, said Martin Adams, Chief Engineer andGeneral Manager, Los Angeles Department of Water and Power. Our City has set a goal of100% carbon-free energy by 2035 and were here to tackle the challenge and say, LADWP is allin.
"Getting to 100% clean energy as soon as possible is not a goal; it is an imperative, saidCouncilmember Mike Bonin. We need aggressive action today to force an urgent and justtransition to a fossil-free tomorrow. It is how we safeguard our childrens future. It is how wepreserve a livable Los Angeles. It is how we protect our neighborhoods and ensure equity."It is a proud day as the City of Angels leads the country forward on equitable clean energy,"said Councilmember Paul Koretz. "As we blaze the trail to 100% renewable energy, we willensure that no one is left behind. Not the frontline communities who live beside leaking naturalgas plants, not the Indigenous Navajo and Hopi communities who brought our City power forover fifty years, and not the heroic DWP workers who, day in and day out, bring light into ouroffices and homes, sometimes at great risk to themselves."
Today marks a landmark achievement for our fight for climate justice and a better Los Angeles,says Francis Yang, Senior Organizer for Sierra Clubs My Generation Campaign. Throughyears of advocacy and collaboration from communities to our city leaders, Los Angeles hasofficially kick-started our path to 100% clean energy. Although the ambitious goal of 2035 orearlier is now solidified, our path forward is only beginning. Angelenos must stay engaged todetermine how we get to 100% through strategic and inclusive planning that prioritizes frontlinecommunities and creates good, clean jobs.Los Angeles is leading California on the path to clean renewable energy with environmentaljustice at its center, said Food & Water Watch Senior Organizer Jasmin Vargas. The voteby the City Council today comes after years of advocacy and leadership from communities onthe frontlines of climate change, calling for community driven solutions that create thousands oflocal union jobs and cut pollution at the source.
Krekorian noted that clean energy is not only about climate change. By committing to a cleanenergy future, the Council is also saving LA lives with improved air quality, protecting LAneighborhoods from power plants burning fossil fuel, and creating over ten thousand new,good-paying jobs in the sustainable economy of the 21st Century, Krekorian said.
The Los Angeles Business Council continues to support Councilman Krekorian and hiscolleagues bold leadership to transition the LADWP from a carbon-based energy system to aclean energy one by 2035 it is historic and a model for others, said Mary Leslie, President ofthe Los Angeles Business Council. It will also require extensive planning and earlyinfrastructure investment; the benefits include cleaner air, water and land, billions of dollars ofnew investment and more than 11,000 jobs annually.
Councilmember Krekorian noted that the LADWP has already taken extraordinary steps towardachieving its 100 percent clean energy goal, laying the groundwork to accommodate 580,000electric vehicles and adding over 1,000 megawatts of energy storage by 2030.