Burbank Water and Power to host town hall meetings
Burbank Water and Power will be host two town-hall forms over the next few days to hear from residents about the future of the city’s energy sources.
The first meeting will be held from 10 a.m to noon on Saturday at the Buena Vista Branch Library, 300 N. Buena Vista St., said Joe Flores, marketing manager for the utility.
Those unable to attend the weekend event will have another opportunity from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. Monday, also at the Buena Vista Branch Library.
Flores said utility officials will be talking to residents about the long-term goals of the city’s energy needs and the energy sources on which the city should be focusing.
“We are in the process of continuously planning how we’re going to provide energy to the community,” he said. “It’s really important to us what their wants, needs and desires are as we move forward in planning our energy’s future.”
Lincoln Bleveans, assistant general manager of power supply for Burbank Water and Power, said it is important to hear from residents, who are both owners and customers of the utility.
He said he expects to hear a lot of feedback from residents during both forums, which Bleveans said will help him and his colleagues determine which avenues to consider.
“Whether you’re looking at a year or 20 years, the world is changing very quickly, and we want to make the best decisions we can when we need to for the city,” Bleveans said. “This public outreach process is really a parcel of determining and plotting Burbank’s energy future.”
Burbank currently has investments in numerous portfolios, receiving energy from wind and hydroelectric projects in the Pacific Northwest, solar energy in Burbank and Nevada and coal plants in Utah.
Bleveans said Burbank Water and Power is already looking to move toward renewable sources of energy, such as natural gas plants, biomethane projects, geothermal facilities and more wind and solar facilities.
On the other hand, he said the city-owned utility plans to move away from carbon-emitting sources, such as coal-powered facilities.
He said that, although these renewable sources are better for the environment, they are more difficult to predict in terms of reliability and power output.
“We are very agnostic,” Bleveans said. “We look at our needs from an organic basis, so we look at what’s best for Burbank and then we go out and find it, as opposed to the opposite. It’s need-based planning and need-based procurement.”
anthonyclark.carpio@latimes.com
Twitter: @acocarpio
