Solar’s Bright Future in Los Angeles: A Conversation with Eric Garcetti - Clean Coalition

Solar’s Bright Future in Los Angeles: A Conversation with Eric Garcetti

Craig Lewis recently spoke with Mr. Garcetti about making Los Angeles a national leader in the new energy economy.

Craig Lewis


Eric Garcetti currently serves as a Los Angeles City Councilmember, representing the 13th District. Mr. Garcetti was elected by his peers four times to serve as President of the Los Angeles City Council from 2006 to 2012. Now, Mr. Garcetti is running for Mayor of Los Angeles – in a race that will be decided on May 21st.

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The Clean Coalition knows Mr. Garcetti to be a stalwart champion of clean local energy. Recently, he authored legislation to establish the 100 megawatt (MW) CLEAN LA Solar Program. According to the Los Angeles Business Council, this 100 MW of local solar will create up to 4,500 jobs, generate $500 million in economic activity and offset 2.25 million tons of carbon dioxide emissions by 2020. Additionally, the Sierra Club officially endorsed Eric Garcetti astheir candidate for Mayor due to his outstanding environmental record.

As Mayor, Mr. Garcetti is committed to significantly expanding the production of local solar power in Los Angeles – specifically setting a level of 1,200 MW by 2016.

Craig Lewis, Founder and Executive Director of the Clean Coalition, recently had the chance to talk with Mr. Garcetti about making Los Angeles a national leader in the new energy economy, as captured in the relevant dialog below.

Craig Lewis (CL): Mr. Garcetti, you are committed to deploying 1,200 MW of solar energy within the City of Los Angeles by 2016. Why are you so dedicated to this objective?

Eric Garcetti (EG):Making Los Angeles a solar energy leader will make our city healthierand more prosperous, and will help achieve my goal of a coal andnuclear-freeDWP. I am 100 percent dedicated to a 1,200 MW solar goal,which would keep harmful pollution out of our atmosphere and lungs,and would inject more than $2 billion into our local economy. Anaggressive commitment to solar will kick-start a new energy economy inLos Angeles, moving us away from a statusquothat sees us cedeleadership and spend money buying energy outside of Los Angeles. At a1,200 MW scale, Los Angeleswill approach the economies of scaleenjoyed in Germany, which is currently deploying rooftop solar at anextremely competitive 7cents per KWH – a level cheaper than anysource of energy available toAngelenostoday.

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CL:Why have you specifically committed that at least half of the 1,200 MW of local solar come from an expansion to the CLEAN LA Solar Program?

EG:I am proud to have spearheaded the creation of LosAngeles’feed-in-tariffprogram, and its initial stage has delivered data andfeedback from customers and solarbusinesses that makes for a successfulmodel that can and should be expanded. Feed-in-tariffprogramsaccelerate solar deployment by allowing for the utilization of arooftop’sfull solar potential, even if the site itself has only asmall power demand. Until L.A.’sFiTwas launched, 75 percent of ourcity’s rooftop market was ineligible for solar because of insufficientload or because so many buildings are non-owner occupied or multi-tenant.

CL:How can the Clean Coalition help you make the 1,200 MW of local solar a reality in LosAngeles in the most timely fashion possible?

EG:I would encourage information sharing so L.A. canget ahead of thecurve by taking advantage of the lessonslearned by theCleanCoalition in designing and implementing CLEAN Programs across thecountry, likein Long Island, Fort Collins andPaloAlto. Iwould alsoencourage the Clean Coalition to continuecommunicating its robustanalyses on the economic benefits of solar to build greater publicsupport. Ibelieve the Clean Coalition’sDistributed Generation +Intelligent Grid Initiativecould be leveraged here in L.A.to provethatrenewablescan be used to provide asignificant percentage ofenergy requirements,while atthe same time, improving gridreliability with intelligentgrid solutions like demand response,electric vehicles, and energy storage.

 

CL:If elected the next Mayor of Los Angeles, which we will know on May 21st, how fast can you move on the 1,200 MW solar goal?

EG:I would move forward immediately. I have already laid the groundworkthrough my policy work on the council, and as a candidate, I have beenmeeting with solar stakeholders notjust to earn their support for mycampaign, but to exchange ideas so I can hit the ground running.

CL:How can other parties help you achieve 1,200 MW of local solar for Los Angeles?

EG:Tell your friends, family, co-workers to vote! And make sure they votefor EricGarcetti!

Craig Lewis

Founder and Executive Director

Craig founded the Clean Coalition in 2009 and has over 30 years of experience in policy and technology innovation, including the proliferation of Solar Microgrids and Community Microgrids. Prior to founding the Clean Coalition, Craig held numerous positions in the wireless, semiconductor, banking, and renewable energy industries. Previously VP of Government Relations at GreenVolts, he was the first to successfully navigate a solar project through California’s Renewable Portfolio Standard solicitation process. Craig was energy policy lead on Steve Westly’s 2006 California gubernatorial campaign. His resume includes senior government relations, corporate development, and marketing positions at leading wireless, semiconductor, and banking companies such as Qualcomm, Ericsson, and Barclays Bank. Craig received an MBA and MSEE from the University of Southern California and a BSEE from the University of California, Berkeley.

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