Baldwin Hills Power Plant Proposal Withdrawn (KFWB) 6.21.01, 7:25p --

An energy company has withdrawn an emergency operating permit application to build a 53-megawatt power plant in Baldwin Hills. The move follows protests by neighborhood residents and the formal objection of local lawmakers. The application was submitted to the California Energy Commission, which had planned to decide on Friday whether the plant should be built. Both the Los Angeles City Council and the county Board of Supervisors went on record as opposing the construction of the plant on top of an oil field. The field is in the middle of the Baldwin Hills Conservancy and about 650 feet away from the Kenneth Hahn State Recreational Area. Environmental issues were a key concern for residents in the densely populated South Los Angeles community. They were worried about the loss of open space, as well as an increase in pollution.

La Jolla Energy Development notified the commission late Thursday. They were hoping to build the project under the governor's emergency order, which allows plants to be approved without the normal environmental review process required by state law if they are up and running by Sept. 30.

Residents claimed victory when hearing of the announcement while representatives from the Tustin-based energy company said they were disappointed by the approval process. They blamed state regulators for the demise of the project. The company said they could not meet stricter pollution controls the South Coast Air Quality Management wanted to impose.

-- PHO (owennos@bigfoot.com), June 22, 2001

Answers

I wonder if the NIMBY in this case is partly because LA has its own power supply and has been selling surplus power to the state, so they don't feel the need.

If companies want to build more peaker plants, why not put them on landfills, where they could mine the methane? I would think there would be less NIMBY in those cases, and they wouldn't have to pipe in so much NG. SMUD built a small plant on a landfill last year east of Sacramento, and I read that Alameda did the same thing in the East Bay this past winter.

-- Margaret J (mjans01@yahoo.com), June 22, 2001.