A plan unanimously approved by commissioners on Tuesday will see the utility sell off one coal-fired power plant in Arizona and grant approvals for a second plant in Utah to be converted to run on natural gas.
The two plants together provide LA with 40% of its energy requirements.
LADWP currently owns a 21% interest in the 2250MW Navajo Generating Station, receiving 477 MW of coal-fired power from the plant. LADWP will sell its stake in Navajo to Salt River Project, ending LA’s use of coal-fired power from the plant by December 31, 2015.
LADWP also holds a long-term power sales agreement with the Utah Intermountain Power Plant until 2027, contractually obliging it to purchase coal until this time.
In order to meet LA mayor Antonio Villaraigosa’s target to quit coal by 2025, LADWP has signed a new agreement with Intermountain and its other customers to convert the plant into a combined-cycle natural gas plant by 2025.
The conversion is scheduled to begin no later than January 1, 2020.
LADWP general manager Ronald O. Nichols said the decision ended LA’s reliance on coal.
“We are very pleased that we have made progress with Salt River Project to enable moving forward with the negotiation of the final agreements that would enable LADWP to fully divest of coal power from Navajo by the end of 2015,” he said.
“Our efforts to create a clear path to ending our use of coal-fired power from the Intermountain Power Plant is also a major achievement for a complex arrangement involving 30 Utah public power utilities and six California municipal utilities who receive power from that project. This allows us to focus on the new low-carbon future of Los Angeles.”
Villaraigosa initially set two goals;, to achieve 20% renewable energy in the city’s mix by 2010, and to get LA coal-free by 2020.
The city has reached the 20% renewables goal. Villaraigosa recently moved the target to quit coal back to 2025 because long-term sales agreements such as the Intermountain contract were proving difficult to modify.
“The era of coal is over. Today we affirm our commitment to make Los Angeles a cleaner, greener, more sustainable city,” said Villaraigosa.
“By divesting from coal and investing in renewable energy and energy efficiency, we reduce our carbon footprint and set a precedent for the national power market.”
