Wednesday, April 3, 2019

Local LA Business Leaders Urge Solar Push

A group of business, environmental, and civic leaders in Los Angeles are calling for the expansion of a local program to encourage building owners to install rooftop solar panels, according to the Los Angeles Business Council. According to the council, the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power should expand an existing pilot program, which allows building owners to install rooftop solar panels and then sell the electricity generated into the utility's power grid. The LADWP has been running a "feed-in tariff" (FiT) program, which reached capacity of 150MW. The Los Angeles Business Council said that expanding the program would help fill the gap which will be caused by the announcement that the DWP will close three gas-fired power plants, and the goal of moving Los Angeles to 100 percent clean energy by 2045. According to a statement from the group, expanding the solar program will "benefit the entire L.A. community by creating a pipeline of good paying local jobs, while reducing greenhouse gas emissions and improving the quality of life for residents". The move comes as Alaska just saw its warmest March, ever, on record, Australia is also seeing its warmest March ever recorded, a massive cyclone in Mozambique devastated the country, and many other extreme weather events continue to increase across the globe.