How much will replacing coal cost Los Angeles?
In a story from yesterday鈥檚, a city watchdog has attached a large price tag to the city鈥檚 initiative to move the city away from coal-based electricity.
According to the article, 鈥淔red Pickel, the ratepayer advocate at the Department of Water and Power, said Monday that eliminating coal from the utility鈥檚 power mix ahead of a state-mandated deadline is projected to cost more than $600 million. What that could mean for ratepayers鈥� electricity bills is unclear, he said.鈥�
At a meeting of the City Council鈥檚 Energy and Environment Committee on Wednesday, Pickel said he would urge city officials to look for ways to lower the costs. 鈥淭he question is, can we do this cheaper?鈥� he said.
Two coal plants currently provide nearly 40 percent of the city鈥檚 energy. Under the new plan, the city would supplant most of that with power produced by switching to natural gas.
Fuel switching is an interesting approach for Los Angeles considering clean coal technology enjoys majority support among California voters. It is especially noteworthy that this support is broad-based, encompassing majorities of Republican, Democratic and voters declining to state a party affiliation. Given that the most important issues to California voters are 鈥渏obs and the economy,鈥漹oter sentiment that the state鈥檚 energy policies have made it less competitive should be a red flag to Sacramento legislators.
In a聽聽of California voters, nearly 57 percent answered yes when they were asked 鈥淒o you support or oppose developing new clean coal power plants in California?鈥� When asked the question, 鈥淒o you think that California鈥檚 energy policies have made the state more or less competitive?鈥�, more than 43 percent answered yes. And particularly telling is the fact that nearly one-quarter of California voters feel that the state鈥檚 energy policies have made the state far less competitive.
These numbers are in stark contrast to聽聽made recently by Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa when he announced that the city will become the only city in America that won鈥檛 get any electricity from coal by the year 2025.
Coal-based electricity is one of the least expensive, most reliable means of producing electricity, and it鈥檚 a central part of the American energy portfolio. Not only that, coal has a long history of providing energy to Americans.
America has depended on the reliable and abundant coal that comes from our land and powers our lives for more than a century. With the energy in America鈥檚 coal reserves being roughly equal to the world鈥檚 known oil reserves, it鈥檚 clear that coal should continue to be a reliable source of electricity for all of us.
