ladwpLos Angeles Department of Water and Power Manager Ron Nichols said in a press release that the utility will replace over 70% of its existing energy supply over the next 15 years. As part of that work, LADWP has approved a local solar program which includes the Eastern Sierra.

The LADWP commissioners recently voted to approve a 100 megawatt program designed to increase local solar power in Los Angeles and also in our area. The DWP press release says, “The Solar Feed-in Tariff Set Pricing Program will allow customers, solar companies and other third parties to develop solar or other eligible renewable energy projects within LADWP’s service territory and to sell the power to LADWP at a set price for distribution on the city’s power grid.”

This program will start as early as February and continue through the end of 2016. DWP Manager Nichols said, “Local solar not only increases the level of renewable energy we provide to customers but also helps maintain power reliability as we transition away from coal.”

DWP will make 20 megawatt allocations available every six months until 100 megawatts is subscribed. Projects can range in size from 30 kilowatts to 3 megawatts. Each allocation will set aside a prescribed amount of capacity for small projects.

The way it works is LADWP will enter into a standard 20-year contract for each project and purchase the solar power at a set price starting at 17 cents per kilowatt-hour for the first 20 megawatts. The price will decline according to a tiered price structure that caps the amount of power that can be reserved at each price.

Manager Nichols is quoted as saying that LADWP “opted to set the initial price higher than what it would pay for other renewables to ensure the program has a sufficient incentive to become solid and sustainable.”

For more information go to www.ladwp.com/fit or call the hotline at 213-367-2100 or email at [email protected].

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