LADWP hosted its 9th Annual Sustainability Awards event on April 17 to celebrate the sustainability achievements of its largest commercial, governmental, institutional, and industrial customers.
LOS ANGELES (April 30, 2024)—The Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (LADWP) hosted its 9th annual Sustainability Awards event to award honors to 19 of the utility’s largest customers. The event recognized these customers for their installation of electric vehicle (EV) chargers and their facilities’ significant reductions in carbon emissions and water use resulting from their participation in LADWP rebate programs. Held at the John Ferraro Building, LADWP’s headquarters in downtown Los Angeles, the event also featured a discussion panel with representatives from local transit agencies about the electrification of public transportation.
In total, actions taken by the 2024 honorees in energy efficiency and demand response reduced their annual carbon emissions by an estimated 4,688 tons, which is equivalent to removing more than 1,100 gasoline-powered cars from the road for a year. Awardees for water conservation decreased their water use by 3.8 million gallons. Transportation electrification honorees added another 461 EV chargers—440 Level 2 chargers and 21 Level 3 chargers—to L.A.’s growing network of EV chargers. These successes continue an ongoing trend of substantial water and power savings and expansion of EV infrastructure among the utility’s Commercial, Industrial & Institutional (CII) customers.
“This event celebrates our largest customers’ energy and water savings, and advancements in transportation electrification, with the knowledge that the effort they have put into creating a more sustainable Los Angeles will have resounding effects throughout the city and for all its residents. It is humbling to see the steps they have taken to reach this point, and to know the deep partnerships LADWP has forged with L.A.’s business community to help make our greener future possible,” said Greg Reed, LADWP Senior Assistant General Manager of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI), who delivered keynote remarks on “The Power of DEI.”
“These honorees’ efforts are making a difference to all Angelenos as we change our habits, ways of operating, and ways of interacting with the world to do what we can to slow the effects of climate change. As we greet the future, I look forward to watching how our collective ingenuity, forward thinking, and commitment to a greener Los Angeles will help our city become a beacon of sustainability to others around the world,” said Joseph Ramallo, LADWP Senior Assistant General Manager of Customer Service, Communications and Corporate Strategy, who offered the welcome remarks at the event.
The annual event represents an opportunity for LADWP and its Commercial, Industrial and Institutional (CII) customers to come together to honor their joint efforts toward and commitment to environmental responsibility, and to hear more about related sustainability endeavors that are shaping the city and region. This year’s panel, “Electrifying L.A.’s Public Transportation,” was moderated by Jason Rondou, LADWP Director of Power System Engineering and newly appointed Chair of the LA28 Games Energy Council. He was joined by panelists Shaun Miller, LA County Metropolitan Transit Authority (LACMTA) Deputy Executive Officer; Lisa Colicchio, Metrolink Director of Sustainability; and Laura Rubio-Cornejo, LA Department of Transportation (LADOT) General Manager, to discuss LADWP’s support of local transportation agencies in their electrification efforts and the future of these collaborations. Each of the panelists’ agencies have received honors at previous LADWP Sustainability Awards events, as well.
Since the event’s inception in 2016, it has recognized more than 100 LADWP customers for their achievements in electrification, efficiency, and conservation brought about by their participation in the utility’s rebate and incentive programs. This year, trophies were awarded in four categories: Energy Efficiency, Water Conservation, Electrification of Transportation, and Demand Response. Customers achieving the greatest absolute energy or water savings earned Leadership Awards, while customers achieving the greatest energy or water savings relative to their annual usage earned Impact Awards.
Honorees and the scale of their sustainability accomplishments are determined through quantitative analysis of their environmental impacts. The amount of water or energy savings is calculated based on the savings achieved during the year those sustainability measures were implemented in comparison to the calendar year prior to implementation.
Among the notable winners this year were:
- The Los Angeles Unified School District, which won the first-place Leadership Award for Demand Response for the eighth consecutive year;
- LA County, which took home two second-place honors in the Electrification of Transportation category for its installation of 120 Level 2 EV chargers and 6 Level 3 EV chargers under the Commercial EV Charging Station Rebate Program;
- Keck Medical Center of USC, which earned the first-place Leadership Award in Water Conservation for its installation of 232 flow restrictors under the Water Conservation Rebate Program, and the University of Southern California, which received the second-place Leadership Award in Energy Efficiency for its installation of 16,856 LED retrofits and controls under the Commercial Lighting Incentive Program;
- And WBCT LLC, which received the third-place Leadership Award and third-place Impact Award in Energy Efficiency, for its installation of 830 exterior high-bay crane fixtures under the Commercial Lighting and Incentive Program.
For more information about the program and past winners, please visit ladwp.com/sap.
The complete list of 2024 Sustainability Awards winners are:
Energy Efficiency
Leadership Award
1st Place: City of Los Angeles Street Lighting
2nd Place: University of Southern California
3rd Place: WBCT LLC
Impact Award
1st Place: Colonnade Wilshire Corp
2nd Place: Automobile Club of Southern California
3rd Place: WBCT LLC
Water Conservation
Leadership Award
1st Place: Keck Medical Center of USC
2nd Place: AT&T Services, Inc.
3rd Place: Noemi Dunkelman
Electrification of Transportation
Leadership Award for Level 2 Chargers
1st Place: The Roberts Company
2nd Place: Los Angeles County
T – 3rd Place: Valley Presbyterian Hospital
T – 3rd Place: Douglas Emmett
Leadership Award for Level 3 Chargers
1st Place: EVgo
2nd Place: Los Angeles County
3rd Place: Hilton LAX
Demand Response
Leadership Award
1st Place: LAUSD
2nd Place: Los Angeles World Airports
3rd Place: Brookfield Properties
Impact Award
1st Place: Airgas
2nd Place: LA Cold Storage
3rd Place: Lineage Logistics
