Expanded Geothermal Plant Helps Create
Clean Energy Future for L.A.

Provides Reliable Renewable Energy for 22,500 Homes;
Reduces Greenhouse Gas Emissions Equivalent
to Taking 14,600 Cars off the Road

The Don A. Campbell 2 Geothermal Power Plant in Mineral County, Nevada is delivering 16.2 megawatts (MW) of geothermal energy to Los Angeles homes and businesses, moving LADWP closer to its mandated renewable energy target of 33 percent by 2020. The new plant will provide more than 130 gigawatt-hours (GWh) of clean reliable energy per year, enough to serve 22,500 Los Angeles typical households each year and avoid over 75,000 metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions, which is roughly equivalent in removing 14,600 cars off the road.

“The City of Los Angeles continues to lead on sustainability, benefiting now from reliable, renewable energy from the Don A. Campbell 2 Geothermal Power Plant,” said Mayor Eric Garcetti. “This brings us a step closer to achieving a clean energy future for Los Angeles by reducing greenhouse gas emissions produced from fossil fuels while providing a continuous, reliable source of clean renewable energy for Los Angeles.”

“The expanded geothermal power plant brings more renewable resources online and moves DWP towards a cleaner energy portfolio,” said Councilmember Felipe Fuentes, chair of the City Council’s Energy and Environment Committee. “Los Angeles is another step closer to eliminating coal and generating 33 percent of our energy from renewable resources.”

The new power plant is an expansion of the Don A. Campbell 1 Geothermal Power Plant, which has been delivering 13.7 MW of geothermal energy to Los Angeles and 2.5 MW to City of Burbank since December 2013. The construction of the new plant was completed in August 2015. It started test operations on August 28, 2015, and has been in commercial operation since September 17, 2015 – about 15 months ahead of the original schedule. Early completion of the plant is expected to help offset the loss of renewable energy from LADWP’s small hydropower plants, which have been impacted by the severe drought in California.

Combined, the first and second phases of the Don A. Campbell Geothermal Power Plant are providing close to 30 MW of renewables for Los Angeles with an energy output of 245 GWh—enough to serve 41,500 households and avoid 139,100 metric tons carbon emission, which is equivalent removing 26,900 cars off the road.

“The Don A. Campbell Geothermal Power Plants play a key role in diversifying LADWP’s portfolio of renewable energy necessary to meet goals and mandates for expanding renewable energy and weaning us off of coal power while continuing to provide reliable electric service,” LADWP General Manager Marcie Edwards said.

“Geothermal energy is an incredibly vital renewable resource to have in our power portfolio because it generates power continuously, so we can rely on it for base load renewable power, 24/7,” said Michael Webster, LADWP Executive Director of Power System – Engineering and Technical Services.

LADWP is receiving all of the geothermal output from the new plant through a 20-year power sales agreement, approved by the Los Angeles City Council on March 18, 2015, with the Southern California Public Power Authority (SCPPA). SCPPA is buying the power directly from the plant’s developer, ORNI 37, LLC, a subsidiary of Ormat Nevada Inc.

The combined Don A. Campbell 1 and 2 Geothermal Power Plants will contribute to providing reliable energy that will help position LADWP to eliminate coal-fired generation by 2025. LADWP expects to replace coal power entirely with a combination of energy efficiency, renewables, and some additional gas-fired generation to integrate the renewables.

The plant is expected to produce power at an average of 95 percent capacity or more annually. Because of its predictability, it also saves on transmission and other integration costs, as compared to wind and solar renewable energy.

LADWP has been steadily building a diverse renewable energy portfolio of wind, solar, biogas, small hydro, and geothermal power. In 2013, LADWP averaged 23 percent of its power sales from renewable energy, and is on track to supply 25% of its energy from renewable resources by 2016, and 33% by 2020. The geothermal energy purchased from Don A. Campbell 1 and 2 Geothermal Power Plants combined represent 1.1% of LADWP’s renewable energy goals 2020.