Op-Ed: AES Aims for Greener Future

AES Southland is excited about the prospect of modernizing our power plants, including our , which will result in smaller, cleaner, more efficient and more attractive facilities. We're also eager to answer questions that have been asked about our plans.

First, we're proposing to remove most of our existing power plant and replace it with a new modern facility that will support the energy and environmental goals of California and serve the needs of the Los Angeles Basin. The new power plant would occupy a smaller footprint on the property, and because of new technology, we'd improve our generating efficiency by approximately 30 percent while reducing our use of seawater for cooling by more than 90 percent.

Our plans are consistent with the vision of the South Coast Air Quality Management District, which is responsible for air quality in the greater Los Angeles Basin. The Air District's primary path to cleaner air in Southern California is by electrifying transportation, such as cars, buses, trucks and trains. This will ultimately clean our air because emissions from natural gas electricity production are significantly less than emissions from diesel and gasoline engines. In fact, according to the Air District, mobile sources are responsible for more than 90 percent of our NOx emissions, while electricity production contributes less than 1 percent of NOx emissions in Southern California (visit the Air District's Powering the Future webpage for more information).

Like our existing plant, our new facility would not operate 24/7. It would primarily be used to help keep the state's power grid running reliably when the need for electricity was high and transmission lines bringing "imported" power become too congested or when other sources of energy like wind and solar can't keep up with consumer demand. Without such plants, rolling blackouts and brownouts would be commonplace. It's similar to our local fire protection system, where firefighters are standing by 24/7 in fire stations throughout the community. While they're not needed all the time, when an emergency occurs, we need them to be ready to respond immediately. 

Where a plant is located is also critical to the service it provides—just like a fire station. Both must be placed where the demand is and strategically located to avoid congested transmission lines or energy "roadways." That's why you find power plants in some unlikely spots, like along the coast and in more populated areas.

With respect to where we are in the planning process, we'd like to clarify that we have not yet filed an application to build a new plant with the California Energy Commission, the entity responsible for permitting new facilities in the state. We've submitted a preliminary plan with the State Water Resources Control Board outlining one potential alternative for complying with the Board's policy, which requires us to significantly reduce the ocean water we use for cooling. The preliminary plan we submitted on April 1, as required by the policy, is non-binding and subject to change.

We've already started talking with local officials and community residents to get their input and will continue to do so. For example, since our new plant would be smaller, we are exploring options of what can be done with the extra land. What type of development would be economically viable and sustainable? What can we do to make it more attractive? 

We're also seeking input from state agencies to determine long-term energy needs because we only plan to build what's needed. Plants like the one we’re proposing are vital in order to integrate solar, wind and other renewable energy resources and help California meet its ambitious green energy goals. 

AES is grateful to the city leaders and those in the community who have expressed a desire to work together to create a viable future for the AES site that benefits us all, while helping to move California into a cleaner, greener energy future.

Our goal is to create a project that's good for Redondo Beach, California and our environment. For us, this isn't just an AES project—it's a community effort. We should all benefit.

Signed,

Jennifer Didlo
Project Development Director
AES Southland