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LADWP Sets Higher Energy Saving Goals

By City News Service
November 10, 2014
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LADWP Headquarters | Photo: Mike Chen/Flickr/Creative Commons License

The Los Angeles Department of Water and Power has set a goal to become 15 percent more energy efficient by 2020, exceeding the state's requirement for utilities to cut energy use by 10 percent, Mayor Eric Garcetti said Monday.

The energy conservation goal will help "address climate change and keep our power bills low," Garcetti said.

Rather than build new power plants, "the cheapest and cleanest way to ensure we have enough electricity to keep the lights on and power our economy is through energy efficiency," he said.

DWP Commissioners agreed to pursue the 15 percent efficiency goal in August, which the mayor said is the most ambitious energy efficiency goal by a municipal utility in the nation.

The 15 percent reduction would result in Los Angeles power users cutting energy by 3,596 gigawatt-hours, which is equivalent to taking 440,000 cars from city streets a year.

A UCLA study projects the energy reduction will create 16 jobs for every $1 million invested, Garcetti said.

The DWP's energy reduction goal is being pursued at the same time the city is trying to reduce water use by 20 percent by 2017, and cut in half the utility's purchase of imported water by 2024.

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