California says goodbye to coal and hello to cleaner electricity
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One of the most consequential moments in California’s drive to beat back climate change will take place next month. The state will stop receiving electricity from the Intermountain Power Plant in Central Utah, meaning our reliance on coal as a source of power will essentially be over.
It feels like there should be a recognition of some kind. Perhaps a dimming of lights for one minute? Or a shout out to the political leaders who correctly projected that California could switch to cheaper and still reliable power sources like wind, solar and natural gas.
My colleague, Sammy Roth reported on the historic breakthrough recently in The Times, detailing how the state has gradually been moving away from burning coal, which spews greenhouse gases into the atmosphere, thereby warming the planet and exacerbating droughts, wildfires and other scourges.
As Sammy reported, the U.S. got nearly half its electricity from coal-fired plants as recently as 2007. By 2023, that figure had dropped to just 16.2%. California drove an even more dramatic shift, getting just 2.2% of its electricity from coal in 2024 — nearly all of it from the Intermountain plant.
Operators plan to cut off that final burst of ions next month. And with improved technology to store power, the change has been made without the power shortages that dogged the state up until 2020.
Key to making that shift has been the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power, which has ordered less electricity from the Utah plant while simultaneously building a natural gas and hydrogen burning power station just across the street from Intermountain.
“For us to move beyond [coal] and move to a cleaner, innovative technology, I think is very exciting,” said Jason Rondou, the DWP’s assistant general manager for power planning and operations.
I reported from the massive Navajo reservation in Arizona in 2019 about the impending shutdown of what was then the largest coal-fired plant in the West. The Navajo Generating Station also sent electricity to L.A., a city which no longer wanted the dirty power.
The Navajo coal station shutdown has meant a challenging transition for the people who call themselves the Dine, many of whom relied on high-paying jobs in coal mining and at the power plant, whose massive steam plumes near Lake Powell had for years been a navigating point for aviators. Despite the end of his job at the Kayenta coal mine on the reservation, Dine elder and coal miner Lawrence Gilmore told me Tuesday that the closure was the right thing to do. “Water was being polluted, all the [power] resources go off the reservation, not much stayed here,” Gilmore said. “So only the workers really benefited, not the communities where the mining occurred.”
Though raw economics have been driving coal mines out of business, they have one powerful ally: President Trump. He suggests America can’t live without coal. The administration last week said it would open 13 million acres of public land to coal mining and offer $625 million in handouts to coal plant owners. Energy Secretary Chris Wright, a former fossil fuel executive, insisted the handouts “will be vital to keeping electricity prices low and the lights on without interruption.”
Trump has been creative in trying to bend states and their governments to his will. But he has not yet succeed in forcing California utilities to accept power from coal-fired plants.
The Golden State is looking to newer, cleaner technologies, including hydrogen, which the new Utah plant will be able to create by splitting water molecules into hydrogen and oxygen atoms. The technology creates byproducts that concern some environmentalists. But experts say it presents a tiny fraction of the risk of coal combustion.
Even in Millard County, Utah, conservative politicians have signaled they are ready to accept the move away from coal.
“Energy development is really important in our portfolio. And we will talk to everybody,” County Commissioner Bill Wright said. “We’re open for business.”
Today’s top stories
West Coast’s two monster faults could trigger back-to-back earthquakes
- New research suggests the San Andreas fault and the Cascadia subduction zone — two of the West Coast’s most destructive generators of huge earthquakes — could produce devastating back-to-back disasters.
- That’s the unsettling possibility described in a groundbreaking new study published recently in the journal Geosphere.
- The authors suggest that, for thousands of years, large earthquakes on the Cascadia subduction zone were quickly followed by large earthquakes on the northern San Andreas fault.
USC faculty members denounce Trump compact that would shift the university to the right
- During a USC Academic Senate meeting Monday, faculty strongly denounced and rejected the Trump administration offer to give the university funding preference in exchange for abiding by conservative education goals.
- The compact, which also was offered to eight other prominent universities across the country, has roiled higher education and drawn the ire of Gov. Gavin Newsom with its demands for rightward campus policy shifts in exchange for priority federal funding.
‘I don’t want this all on camera,’ gubernatorial candidate Katie Porter says in a testy interview
- The 2026 gubernatorial candidate raised eyebrows Tuesday when footage emerged of her apparently ending a television interview after becoming irritated by a reporter’s questions.
- The footage shows CBS Sacramento reporter Julie Watts asking Porter, a Democrat, what she would say to the nearly 6.1 million Californians who voted for President Trump in 2024.
- After Porter highlighted her experience winning a closely divided Orange County congressional district, she grew palpably irritated by Watts’ follow-up questions about her dismissiveness about needing support from voters who supported Trump.
More big stories
- Trash fees will surge for many L.A. residents in the aftermath of the city’s fiscal crisis.
- The government shutdown disrupted flights at Hollywood Burbank Airport. Could it get worse?
- What caused the massive El Segundo explosion? Refinery experts have some theories.
- The highest ranking woman in Seal Beach police history is suing the city alleging discrimination.
- Starting next year, landlords will be required to provide a refrigerator and stove for every apartment in California, thanks to a new law.
- Federal agents held a man in a hospital for 37 days, at times shackled to his bed, without charging him.
- Trump confirms it: Sean “Diddy” Combs has asked for a pardon in his prostitution case.
Commentary and opinions
- At Trump’s Justice Department, partisan pugnacity is where honor and integrity should be, argues columnist Mark Z. Barabak.
- Federal officers cuffed and tackled Sen. Alex Padilla. But he sees a bigger crisis ahead, writes columnist Anita Chabria.
- Who knew ICE could be so funny? Just check out videos of their fails, argues columnist Gustavo Arellano.
This morning’s must read
The Department of Homeland Security’s intense push to ramp up deportations is dragging in even the dead as it unnerves immigrant households and crams court calendars.
Other great reads
- Is that a newscast or a sales pitch? New AI videos make it tough to tell.
- The former chief executive of Reddit is targetting individual consumers with a $25-per-month tree subscription service.
For your downtime
Going out
- Theater: “Jaja’s African Hair Braiding” at the Mark Taper Forum is a workplace comedy that packs a political punch.
- Ghost tours: A ghost tour with actual ghosts? These L.A. theme park designers are making it happen.
- Restaurants: One of the South’s most influential chefs is now in L.A. He’s not making the cornbread.
Staying in
- Television: NBC is developing a Wordle game show hosted by Savannah Guthrie.
- Recipe: Here’s a recipe for blueberry ricotta pancakes.
- ✏️ Get our free daily crossword puzzle, sudoku, word search and arcade games.
A question for you: What frustrates you the most about parking in L.A.?
Email us at essentialcalifornia@latimes.com, and your response might appear in the newsletter this week.
And finally ... your photo of the day
Today’s great photo is from Times photographer Jason Armond at Mono Lake, where federal officials plan to round up hundreds of wild horses roaming California’s Eastern Sierra, saying they pose safety hazards on highways and cause damage to unique geologic formations at Mono Lake.
Have a great day, from the Essential California team
Jim Rainey, staff reporter
Hugo Martín, assistant editor, fast break desk
Kevinisha Walker, multiplatform editor
Andrew Campa, Sunday writer
Karim Doumar, head of newsletters
How can we make this newsletter more useful? Send comments to essentialcalifornia@latimes.com.
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