In-Basin Generating Stations to be repowered

On Aug. 15, the Los Angeles City Council took important steps to insure the long-term viability of the nation’s largest public utility by approving the Resource Plan. The plan calls for repowering of all four in-basin generation plants, starting with the installation of a simple cycle turbine-generator system at Harbor Generating Station. This represents a major victory for IBEW Local 18. We have been fighting for years to convince management that our generation capacity is an asset worth maintaining and improving, rather than a liability to be shed.

Combined cycle turbine-generators—representing state of the art technology that maximizes efficiency and minimizes environmental impacts—are planned for Valley, Haynes and Scattergood Generating Stations in the next few years. When completed, this will give the DWP and the people of Los Angeles a secure, clean, local source of power that will serve the city well into the coming century.

The City also announced an agreement with the AQMD to facilitate permitting for the repowered stations.

At the same time, Council agreed to sell the city’s share in the Mojave Generating Station, the albatross around the Department’s neck. This clunky coal-burning dinosaur is coming under increasing criticism for its emissions, which are polluting the once-pure air over the Grand Canyon and severely impacting the health of Native Americans living in the area. Instead of having to fork up $75 million to bring the plant into compliance, the Department will get approximately $190 million from the sale, which it will use to further pay down our debt, putting the Department on an ever more secure footing.

AND THAT’S NOT ALL…A major Local 18 initiative gained Council approval when they voted to establish a Joint Safety Institute, a jointly-administered trust fund. This will put worker safety on a permanent, secure footing and ensure adequate rank and file input in an area of vital importance to our work force. We are absolutely certain that this will lead to improved worker safety and will benefit Local 18 members and the Department alike. We are very proud that we have been able to lead the Department to adopt an idea whose time has come.

CONGRATULATIONS to members in Pasadena, who approved a new multi-year agreement with progress made on several important issues.

AND ONE FOOTNOTE…Governor Davis, in an attempt to address the State’s generation shortage, is trying to expedite the permitting process for generating stations. This comes directly from a case brought to the California Supreme Court on behalf of the Harbor GS repowering, and will essentially allow new repowering projects to rebuild their original capacity plus 50 megawatts without seeking new permits. This has potentially positive impacts on our plans for the in-basin generating plants. All in all, it has been a very good month in which we moved forward on a progressive note in many directions.

In unity,