DWP to Unveil Sweeping Clean Energy Program

S. David Freeman, the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power’s folksy, restless general manager who has attacked his agency’s massive debt and pushed through the first layoffs in modern city history, now plans to make a revolution.

If it succeeds, the nation’s largest municipal utility will shift from dirty, dangerous sources of energy such as coal, and instead focus on a clean, decentralized future built on windmills and solar panels.

In essence, the program boils down to this: Customers who want to pay for alternative energy sources can sign up for the program and will probably receive about a 6% rate increase, an average of about $3 a month. In return, they will get price breaks and rebates on energy saving devices, which Freeman says will cut their power usage and end up giving them lower electric bills overall. In return, the DWP gets money to reduce its dependence on faraway, debt-encumbered coal-powered plants, and the city gets cleaner energy.

Not everyone is sure Freeman’s idea will work. Some question whether customers will pay more for power, even if the increase is modest and for a good cause. Others worry about Freeman’s approach, suggesting that his enthusiasm for environmental causes is outpacing his business sense.

Still, the program has big backers too. At its unveiling today, Freeman will be joined by a representative of the Clinton administration, as well as a pair of usually reliable opponents, Mayor Richard Riordan and Councilwoman Ruth Galanter.

Clinton had planned to attend the event before the war in the Balkans required his presence in Washington. Instead, Secretary of Energy Bill Richardson will be on hand to applaud the program.

Other programs have made similar bids for environmental support, but the DWP’s differs in two important ways. Rather than using the money to sign up existing suppliers of clean power, it will spend it developing new sources; and despite an increase in utility rates, it comes with subsidies on appliances, freebies such as long-lasting lightbulbs and other programs that Freeman says will allow customers to break even on their bills while helping the environment and boosting the local economy.

Galanter, the council’s leading environmentalist, will be on hand to tout the program and to declare today “Green Power Day.”

And Riordan, who frequently derides environmentalists as rich people who no longer feel the need to worry about the problems of the poor, is expected to attend and introduce Richardson. “The mayor absolutely supports this environmentally visionary program,” said Deputy Mayor Noelia Rodriguez.

Although no one has come out openly against the program, some critics doubt whether utility customers will willingly pay higher bills, and they question Freeman’s strategy of paying community organizations to recruit customers to the program. Some even wish he had named it something different because they believe “Green Power” may turn off conservatives.

Freeman counters all of that with a mixture of optimism and determination.

“There’s this false notion in people’s minds that green power is expensive,” Freeman said. “We’re trying to break that notion.”

Some of the city’s largest utility users already have signed up. The Dodgers, the Playa Vista developers and Robinsons-May department stores are among those, and Freeman says that he believes residential customers will follow.

In fact, alternative energy sources--solar power, wind power and so-called biomass--do cost more to produce energy than traditional methods. But Freeman’s point is that the DWP can offer incentives to drive down energy usage for the customers who agree to pay more for alternative energy.

The bill of the average DWP customer who signs up for the program will rise to about $53 a month, a 6% increase. But the customer could receive financial support to install low-power lightbulbs, a new air conditioner or a new refrigerator, which would more than pay for the increase, Freeman said.

For those who are not in a position to buy a new refrigerator or air conditioner, Freeman proposes to waive the additional fee and instead send a crew to their home to improve its energy efficiency for free.

California is in the midst of a historic energy deregulation, which is poised to end the DWP’s monopoly on power in the Los Angeles area. To some, that suggests the DWP should be focusing on paying off its debts and readying itself for the radical shift to competitive business.

But Freeman argues that “Green Power” will not make it harder to compete in the free market. Rather, he sees it as a lure for customers.

“Everyone has the right to be skeptical,” he said. “But for everyone who questions whether we can do this: Watch us.”