City of Los Angeles Seeks Proposals to Boost Green Power

LADWP issued what is known as a Request for Proposal (RFP) Wednesday, January 31, 2007 asking green power providers to submit proposals for LADWP to acquire the additional 2,200 GWh of renewable energy, which would increase L.A.’s total renewables to 15% from its current 6%.

“This is an incredible opportunity for the renewable energy industry to present strong, viable proposals that will foster the development of clean, sustainable energy for the City of Los Angeles for many generations to come,” Mayor Villaraigosa said. “Issuing this renewable RFP is a vital step toward cementing the City’s position as a leader in the field of renewable energy.”

“As we issue this RFP, we are making significant progress toward realizing our goal of 20% by 2010,” said H. David Nahai, president of the Board of Water and Power Commissioners that oversees LADWP, the nation’s largest municipal utility. “We hope to be deluged with wide-ranging proposals that not only will provide the City with renewable energy but also open up new markets for innovation and opportunity.”

The RFP opens the door to vendors to provide renewable energy projects—estimated at about $176 million per year—for the City of Los Angeles. As stated in the RFP, LADWP will give preference to proposals that offer immediate facility ownership or to long-term purchase agreements that have an ownership option. Additionally, LADWP is targeting proposals for renewable energy resources that would be constructed on LADWP-owned land located in the Salton Sea area of California. The Department owns about 5,800 acres of land in the Salton Sea, which has fertile opportunities for solar and geothermal power.

LADWP is integrating efforts to develop renewable energy with proposed new or expanded transmission lines to enable delivering that energy to Los Angeles. Starting next month, LADWP, in conjunction with the Imperial Irrigation District Energy (IID Energy) and the nonprofit Citizens Energy, will begin the environmental review process for the Green Path Project, designed to provide access to renewable energy sources in the Salton Sea area. The project also will enhance energy infrastructure and reliability for Los Angeles, Imperial, Riverside and San Diego counties.

“We hope to acquire renewable resources that will take advantage of the proposed Green Path Project,” LADWP General Manager Ron Deaton said.

The RFP also calls for the development of solar projects in the state’s high desert areas, including Mojave, California City, Barstow, and Victorville. “These areas are desirable because of their close proximity to several LADWP electrical interconnection points, providing greater opportunity and more flexibility to connect to the LADWP transmission system,” Deaton said.

Eligible renewable resources include wind, biomass (defined as organic material), solar thermal, solar photovoltaic, geothermal, digester and landfill gas, ocean wave, ocean thermal and tidal current, fuel cells using renewable fuels and other renewable energy resources.

LADWP will conduct a pre-proposal workshop for the renewable energy RFP on February 13 at 9 a.m. at its John Ferraro Building headquarters, A-Level Auditorium, 111 N. Hope St., Los Angeles. Proposals are due April 10 at 2 p.m. The RFP can be downloaded from the LADWP website at www.ladwp.com/purchasing and is being sent directly to more than 300 vendors nationwide.

The Los Angeles Department of Water and Power, the nation’s largest municipal utility, provides reliable, low-cost water and power services to Los Angeles residents and businesses in an environmentally responsible manner. LADWP services about 1.4 million electric customers and 680,000 water customers in Los Angeles.