Agency OKs Alternative-Energy Pact

The Los Angeles Department of Water and Power moved ahead Tuesday with plans to tap wind and geothermal power as part of its drive to increase the use of alternative energy sources.

The agency’s board approved an agreement to take ownership of a $239-million wind farm, which a private contractor is developing for the DWP in Kern County.

The Pine Tree project, initially budgeted at $162 million, is erecting 80 wind turbines to provide 120 megawatts of power, enough to power up to 120,000 homes.

Meanwhile, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa is scheduled to announce today the construction of a major transmission line to deliver electricity to Los Angeles from the vast geothermal fields of Imperial County.

The DWP said the Pine Tree project would be built by a partnership involving the city, the DWP, the Imperial Irrigation District and the nonprofit Citizens Energy.

The wind project would boost the amount of renewable power in the city’s portfolio of electricity from 2% to 3.7%.

The department aims to generate 20% of its power from renewable sources by 2017. But Villaraigosa and his DWP board are pressing to reach that level by 2010.