Politics & Government
CEC May Consider AES Application to Repower in July
AES Southland plans to rebuild its power plant on North Harbor Drive in South Redondo Beach.
AES Southland, the company that owns the AES Redondo Beach Generating Station on North Harbor Drive, expects the California Energy Commission to determine at its July 10 meeting whether it has enough data to proceed with AES' application to build a new power plant in Redondo Beach, AES Southland President Eric Pendergraft told the Redondo Beach City Council on Tuesday night.
The current, aging power plant must be retired, retrofitted, repowered (rebuilt) or apply for a special exemption by 2020 to comply with California's ban on once-through cooling. OTC plants use ocean water to cool the superheated steam that spins the turbines to generate electricity. The ocean water is then pumped back into the sea.
As of now, AES plans to build a new plant that the company says is smaller and more efficient; however, the company has indicated that it is amenable to exploring alternate uses for the property as long as it makes economic sense for the company.
"With respect to our permit application, we have continued to respond to data requests from primarily the Air Quality Management District," Pendergraft said. He later reiterated the company's "desire to work together with the city to explore alternate incentives."
AES has met with several land-use consultants and will hire one once the AES corporate office gives the go-ahead, Pendergraft said. At that point, it will take about three months for the consultant to determine the land's economic value, which will be subject to the approval of upper management.
- Complete coverage: AES Redondo Beach Power Plant Debate
"For us, the ultimate outcome would be one where everyone wins—the city, the community, AES—and all the while we manage to keep the lights on," he said. "We can't guarantee anything, but we are hopeful that we can find that outcome."
AES' plans were deemed "data inadequate" earlier this year, meaning that the CEC required additional information before it moved on to the permitting process.
Plans to rebuild the Redondo Beach power plant have been at the center of controversy over the past several years. Opponents of the power plant argue that it suppresses property values and that the new plant would run more often and produce more pollution than the current one.
Political action committee NoPowerPlant.com placed an initiative on the March ballot that would have rezoned the property to a mixture of up to 40 percent commercial and institutional uses and at least 60 percent park and open space with power generation not an allowable use; however, Measure A was defeated.
Related:
- AES Defends Plans to Repower Plant
- AES Unveils Plans for New Power Plant
- Council Takes No Action to Oppose Repowering AES Redondo Beach
- AES to File Repowering Application by September's End
- AES Delays Filing Application to Repower
- AES Redondo Beach Files Application to Repower
- CEC Deems AES Application to Repower 'Data Inadequate'
- Council Unanimously Passes Anti-Power-Plant Resolution
- City Council to Draft MOU Regarding AES Property
- Cal-ISO Publishes Summer Power Forecast
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