Mayor Eric Garcetti announced this week he has signed an agreement to sell off the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power’s share in a coal-fired energy plant in Arizona, a move that brings the city closer to ending its dependence on coal energy. The signed agreement involves the sale of the LADWP’s 21 percent share in the Navajo Generating Station.
“This is an important step toward cleaner air, addressing climate change and creating a clean energy future for Los Angeles,” Garcetti said.
The LADWP spent three years negotiating the sale of the shares, with the resulting agreement calling for the city to purchase renewable geothermal power instead. It includes a provision that would compel Salt River Project, the owner of the Navajo Generating Plant, to close one of its plant’s three operating units by 2019 in an effort to reduce pollution in the Grand Canyon viewshed and elsewhere. he LADWP is currently negotiating the transition of another energy generating station — the Utah-based Intermountain Power Plant — from coal to cleaner fuel sources by 2025.
