STOP GAS AT GRAYSON AGAIN
Final Decision on Grayson Gas Engines Tuesday, December 13, 2022
Update December 13, 2022: City Council votes 4:1 for a three-engine (54 MW) project, down from an original (2017) project size of 262 WW.
Previous action alert:
Tuesday, December 13, 2022 the proposal will come back to city council.
This is our final chance to say that we want clean energy first!
Please speak up with us again and tell the city that we want clean energy investments, not gas-burning engines, for Glendale.
Tuesday, December 13, 2022, 6 PM, attend the City Council meeting!
If you are unable to attend, please call in (818) 937-8100.
PRIORITIZE THE CLEAN ENERGY!
The Grayson Repowering Proposal would commit our city to a huge investment in fossil fuels for a small percentage of our overall use. City Council should reject the Grayson Repowering Project in its current form and tell GWP to further reduce the need for gas generation by prioritizing local distributed solar and storage, energy efficiency, and other ways to reduce and shift energy demand. Glendale needs to explore ways to avoid the financial and health risks of this project.
BACKGROUND
GEC has said all along that Glendale should maximize its clean energy potential FIRST, to reduce or eliminate the need for gas generation. After years of sustained advocacy, a lot of clean energy is finally on Glendale’s horizon:
- At its December 6, 2022 meeting, City Council directed staff to move forward on two new clean energy projects. Follow-up interviews with many of the companies that chose not to submit proposals indicated that Glendale could attract more projects by changing some requirements.
- Also at the December 6, 2022 meeting, GWP consultant EcoMotion reported that Glendale has the potential for more than 100 MW of demand response, energy efficiency, and distributed clean energy. The report called for a culture shift at GWP to attract more clean energy, including a new approach to creating a virtual power plant.
- At its August 16, 2022 meeting, City Council pledged to increase rooftop solar and battery storage to 10% of customers and is seeking a consultant to figure out incentives, programs, and streamlined procedures to accomplish this. Reaching this goal could add an estimated 75 MW of local clean energy.
- A report on installing solar and battery storage on city properties will be coming to Council soon; GEC is advocating that the city greatly expand the number of sites for immediate installations to provide local, distributed clean energy! There’s even the possibility of a large solar and storage installation over the Scholl landfill!
- Glendale can reconfigure its commercial feed-in-tariff program for large commercial customers to attract sign-ups.
The Grayson proposal coming to City Council on Tuesday would prioritize installing gas engines before we get to all the above clean energy priorities!
We rallied, called in, emailed, and spoke out to Stop Gas at Grayson Again, and on March 1 City Council delayed the Grayson gas engines decision to the end of this year.
Tuesday, December 13, 2022 the proposal will come back to city council.
This is our final chance to say that we want clean energy first!
Please speak up with us again and tell the city that we want clean energy investments, not gas-burning engines, for Glendale.
Tuesday, December 13, 2022, 6 PM, attend the City Council meeting!
If you are unable to attend, please call in (818) 937-8100.
PRIORITIZE THE CLEAN ENERGY!
The Grayson Repowering Proposal would commit our city to a huge investment in fossil fuels for a small percentage of our overall use. City Council should reject the Grayson Repowering Project in its current form and tell GWP to further reduce the need for gas generation by prioritizing local distributed solar and storage, energy efficiency, and other ways to reduce and shift energy demand. Glendale needs to explore ways to avoid the financial and health risks of this project.
BACKGROUND
GEC has said all along that Glendale should maximize its clean energy potential FIRST, to reduce or eliminate the need for gas generation. After years of sustained advocacy, a lot of clean energy is finally on Glendale’s horizon:
- At its December 6, 2022 meeting, City Council directed staff to move forward on two new clean energy projects. Follow-up interviews with many of the companies that chose not to submit proposals indicated that Glendale could attract more projects by changing some requirements.
- Also at the December 6, 2022 meeting, GWP consultant EcoMotion reported that Glendale has the potential for more than 100 MW of demand response, energy efficiency, and distributed clean energy. The report called for a culture shift at GWP to attract more clean energy, including a new approach to creating a virtual power plant.
- At its August 16, 2022 meeting, City Council pledged to increase rooftop solar and battery storage to 10% of customers and is seeking a consultant to figure out incentives, programs, and streamlined procedures to accomplish this. Reaching this goal could add an estimated 75 MW of local clean energy.
- A report on installing solar and battery storage on city properties will be coming to Council soon; GEC is advocating that the city greatly expand the number of sites for immediate installations to provide local, distributed clean energy! There’s even the possibility of a large solar and storage installation over the Scholl landfill!
- Glendale can reconfigure its commercial feed-in-tariff program for large commercial customers to attract sign-ups.
The Grayson proposal coming to City Council on Tuesday would prioritize installing gas engines before we get to all the above clean energy priorities!
IMPORTANT DATES
Final Decision on Grayson Gas Engines
at City Council
Tuesday, December 13, 2022 @ 6PM
Agenda: https://glendaleca.primegov.com/Portal/Meeting?meetingTemplateId=33705
Watch: YouTube.com/myglendale
WHAT CAN I DO?
If you are a Glendale resident, please email City Council by Sunday, December 11, attend in person or call in to the City Council meeting on Tuesday, December 13, at 6 pm to tell Councilmembers we want clean energy investments to receive priority over new investments in gas.
Email:
Mayor Ardy Kassakhian: AKassakhian@GlendaleCA.gov
Elen Asatryan: easatryan@glendaleca.gov
Dan Brotman: dbrotman@Glendaleca.gov
Paula Devine: pdevine@glendaleca.gov
Ara Najarian: anajarian@glendaleca.gov
Call:
For public comments and questions during the meeting, call (818) 937-8100.
Watch: YouTube.com/myglendale
What Else Can I Do?
Sign Up here for updates and ways to take action.
Email us at contact@gec.eco to volunteer on the campaign.
Follow us on social media:
ARGUMENTS FOR LESS GAS
- Climate Change: We need rapid transition to clean energy now to avoid catastrophic climate impacts. Every local government needs to do as much as it can to avoid burning fossil fuels during this critical decade. Adding gas-burning equipment impedes that goal and is the wrong way to go.
- Clean Energy Potential: GWP must fully explore all other options, and it has not yet done so. GWP should focus more on solar + storage programs, load management, more transmission, and clean energy innovations first instead of investing in gas generation to meet our energy needs.
- Not Enough Solar + Storage: GWP has not launched a commercial solar program, or done enough to encourage more private residential solar + storage. Much more can and must be done to maximize local, distributed energy.
- Not Enough RFPs: Although City Council asked GWP to pursue technologies and distributed renewable energy resources to reduce the need for gas generation at Grayson, it took GWP from 2018 to 2022 to issue any new RFPs for local clean energy projects, and the 2022 RFP had several new obstacles that discouraged proposals. There is a lot of potential that should be explored before Glendale commits to gas-powered energy.
- Financial Concerns: The Grayson project will cost hundreds of millions of dollars. The main rationale for adding this energy capacity is to meet “reserve” requirements—in essence, to insure against situations where other power sources go down, like a downed transmission line. Once the new equipment is installed, GWP proposes to use it only 15% of the time to cover peak demand, and it will help in the short term until new transmission comes online. This is incredibly expensive insurance, and a lot of money to spend for equipment that will sit idle most of the time. There are cleaner and more affordable ways to meet or reduce Glendale’s energy needs. Plus, this technology may well be obsolete or legally prohibited long before the end of its useful lifetime. Glendale ratepayers will foot the bill and may end up paying twice. Instead, we could invest in technology that can last for the long term.
- Gas Price Risks: A gas plant relies on gas supplies from outside Glendale. If there are problems with supply, prices will spike. When that happened in the past, GWP shut down the whole plant for seven months. Using Grayson in similar circumstances would add significant costs to operate the gas plant. Furthermore, utility gas supply prices are escalating sharply.
- Air Pollution: Air pollution is a major concern in the neighborhoods near Grayson, which are heavily burdened by the power plant and freeways. The Grayson Power Plant produces significant amounts of air pollutants that cause cancer, asthma, heart disease, dementia, as well as impaired cognitive development in children. The Los Angeles region has among the worst air quality in the country. Glendale should do everything it can to minimize emissions in this area, including replacing the old Grayson units with local clean energy instead of new or refurbished units.
PROJECT HISTORY
In April 2018, the Grayson Repowering Project—a project to replace existing equipment at Grayson with new gas-burning equipment with 262 MW of energy capacity—was rejected by City Council after community protest and advocacy for clean energy.
In July 2019, City Council conditionally approved the 2019 Integrated Resource Plan (IRP) and an energy portfolio with 93 MW of gas burning, 75 MW of battery storage, and projects for energy efficiency, demand response, and a solar-and-storage virtual power plant. City Council directed GWP to pursue more clean energy to reduce the need for gas. Council also asked for development of a plan for goals or methods to achieve 100% clean energy by 2030. GEC & Sierra Club penned a letter with recommendations for a path forward.
Now, in 2022, the Grayson Repowering Project, based on the prior 2019 IRP energy mix, still has about 100 MW of gas equipment, in two alternative forms City Council will choose from: either 93 MW from 5 new internal combustion engine (ICE) units, or 101 MW from refurbishing two existing Grayson turbines. GWP did not do enough to find clean energy alternatives to gas in the 2 1/2 years since summer 2019 and has not accounted for the benefits of 72 MW of increased transmission rights, coming in 2027. Glendale can do a lot more to build our local resources, to power our city with local, clean, reliable energy. We do NOT need the proposed amount of gas.
February 15, 2022: Glendale Mayor Paula Devine, Councilmember Vrej Agajanian, and Councilmember Ara Najarian voted 3-2 to approve the full Alternative 7 proposal, including $260 million for 93 MW of new fossil fuel equipment for Glendale Water and Power. Councilmember Dan Brotman made a motion to hold off on approving the gas-burning engines and work to reduce or eliminate the need for them while moving forward with other important parts of the project, but other Council members sidestepped that motion and voted for immediate approval instead. Councilmember Najarian asked for Council to consider Councilmember Brotman’s motion at their next meeting, March 1.
March 1, 2022: The Glendale City Council voted unanimously on March 1, 2022, to revise its prior 3-2 vote from February 15, when it approved a $260 million purchase of gas generation equipment. The new vote defers the decision on purchasing the gas equipment until the end of 2022 so that clean energy and other alternatives can be explored. [more]
December 6, 2022: Lackluster results from the Clean Distributed Resources RFP were announced. Though there was significant initial interest from many clean energy firms, the RFP garnered only two viable projects. This demonstrated a need for a newly written RFP taking into account industry feedback regarding overly burdensome requirements (bond requirement during application, 5 MW required project sizes, etc.) Council directed staff to take this feedback into account and begin work on a new RFP.
RESOURCES
Partially Recirculated Draft Environmental Report (PR-DEIR):
With the original proposal for 262MW of gas, the two current proposed project alternatives and additional project alternatives that were dismissed.
https://www.glendaleca.gov/home/showdocument?id=63525&t=637639741923972221
Sierra Club / GEC July 2019 letter critiquing the GWP proposal and suggesting a path forward:
OPEN LETTER to Glendale City Council
Inside Glendale Clean Energy Projects:
SunRun Virtual Power Plant (Project has been in negotiations since 2018)
Lime Energy (Energy Efficiency Program)
Franklin Energy (Demand Response Program)
Solar & Storage on City-Owned Properties (In research/planning phase. Report at GWP Commission is linked.)
Watch progress on these projects here: Clean Energy Update Memos
Recent Clean Energy Projects Outside Glendale:
Eland Solar & Battery Project
Open Mountain Geothermal contract
Additional Articles of Note:
“Falling into the Same Ditches” — The Saga of Glendale’s Grayson Power Plant, Sierra Club, February 23, 2022
Glendale Needs to Maximize Clean Energy – Op-Ed, One Colorado, February 3, 2022
As climate crisis worsens, this California city wants to build a gas plant , Sammy Roth, Los Angeles Times, Jan 27, 2022
Glendale’s Misguided Gas Power Plan Sierra Club, January 7, 2022
LA approves 100% clean energy by 2035 target, a decade ahead of prior goal , Utility Dive, September 2, 2021
PROJECT HISTORY & GEC IMPACT
From 262 MW in 2017, to the 93-101 MW proposed today, GEC has made a difference! NOW, once again, we need your voice to ask our City Council for a BETTER Grayson Repowering Proposal that FURTHER REDUCES investments in fossil fuels.
Press Coverage of GEC’s Original
Clean Energy (Stop Grayson) Campaign
JULY 2019 – Los Angeles Times Environmentalists balk as Glendale power plant officials unveil ‘portfolio of tomorrow’
MAR 2019—Glendale News Press: After Los Angeles’ decision not to repower 3 gas plants, Glendale officials urged to follow suit at Grayson
APR 2018—Glendale News Press: City Council votes to look at renewable-energy alternatives for Grayson plant
APR 2018—Cleantechmedia.com: Glendale Shelves $500 Million Gas Plant to Examine Clean Alternatives
APR 2018—Earthjustice.org: Glendale Hits the Brakes on 500 MIL Gas Fired Power Plant
APR 2018—The Horizon and the Skyline.com: Glendale Puts Hold on Grayson Re-powering
MAR 2018—Sierra Club, Angeles Chapter: Gray skies over Glendale? Join us for April 10 rally to oppose power plant expansion
AUG 2018—Los Angeles Daily News: Glendale Environmental Coalition Ditches Protests for Google Mapping and Crowd Sourcing Grayson Power Plant Alternatives
JULY 2018—Glendale News Press Op-ed by Dan Brotman & Michael Beck: People Powering Glendale with Virtual Power Plant
APR 2018—Knock-La.com: Perhaps the end of “dinosaur” fuel for powering Glendale
JAN 2018—Glendale News Press: Residents rally outside Glendale City Hall against Grayson Power Plant project
JAN 2018—Glendale News Press: City Council requests comprehensive review of renewable alternatives for Grayson Power Plant
JAN 2018—Glenoaks Canyon HOA: A Look at Glendale’s Biggest Issue – The Grayson Power Plant
DEC 2017—ANCAGlendale.org: ANCA Glendale Meets with Glendale Environmental Coalition
OCT 2017—Los Angeles Times: Residents demand more study of renewable-energy alternatives to Grayson Power Plant renovation
OCT 2017—El Vaquero (Glendale Community College): Skepticism Mounts Over Grayson Repowering Plan
AUG 2017—Glendale New Press: The case against Grayson repowering by Dan Brotman
Supporters of GEC’s Original
Clean Energy (Stop Grayson) Campaign:
Glendale Coalition for a Better Government—Support Statement: “The Coalition will work to prevent the ‘repowering’ of the Grayson Plant from a fiscal perspective. The Coalition is working with Dan Brotman, Founder of the Environmental Coalition. Brotman is working from the environmental aspect, the Coalition from a fiscal aspect…both working toward the same goal: A cleaner, less costly repowering!!”
CA Assemblywoman Laura Friedman—Grayson Power Plant project should be shelved (Op-ed, Glendale News Press, June 2018): “I want to focus on the economic risks posed by this plant because it’s important to understand that a healthy environment and a good economy go hand in hand today, while investments in fossil fuels are increasingly taking money out of our wallets and holding our economy back. To put it bluntly: Expanding the Grayson Power Plant will place an unacceptable cost burden on Glendale families when cheaper, safer alternatives exist….Glendale should halt plans for Grayson, bring in external consultants to develop a clean-energy alternative and move our city into the cost-effective, clean-energy future Glendale deserves.”
CA State Senator Anthony Portantino & Susana Reyes—sum up the problems with the plant expansion with their letter to the editor of the LA Times: “In short, the Grayson proposal would increase emissions and particulates that would adversely affect our climate and potentially impact the health of children at Benjamin Franklin Elementary, Mark Keppel Elementary and the Disney Children’s Center, as well as elderly residents of nearby Pelanconi Estates. The DEIR predicts global warming emissions will increase nearly seven-fold. This is the equivalent to 90,000 additional cars on Glendale’s roads….As recently proposed by Councilman Zareh Sinanyan, Glendale residents and ratepayers deserve that alternatives be thoroughly examined separately and independently from the Grayson EIR process. Given the severity of the environmental concerns and the cost involved with Grayson it can be argued that a multipronged renewables portfolio would be less expensive to implement and would meet California’s increasingly stringent emissions requirements.”
Jose Huizar, Los Angeles City Council District 14—Statement of Support: “The Councilmember’s staff asked the Glendale Council to support the recommendation of the Glendale Water and Power Commissioners, pause the project, and solicit green alternatives to a gas-powered plant.”
