he was open to being convinced L.A. can do without the Utah gas plant, saying that if the city did build the facility, he hoped it would be “the death cough of gas-based electricity generation.”
“Garcetti has invited us to come here and convince him not to build this plant,” Pike said during a brief rally outside LADWP’s downtown headquarters before the board meeting. “We are here to take him up on his invitation.” Tom Pike, left, a member of Los Feliz Neighborhood Council’s environmental affairs committee, leads a rally outside the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power’s headquarters on Nov. 19, 2019, protesting LADWP’s plan to build a gas-fired power plant in Utah.was signed by Food and Water Watch and the Center for Biological Diversity, as well as local chapters of groups such as the Sunrise Movement, Extinction Rebellion and the Democratic Socialists of America.
LADWP officials say their plans extend beyond just building a gas plant in Utah. They’re also planning to import large amounts of solar and wind power through the 488-mile transmission line that runs from Intermountain Power Plant to Southern California. They also hope to build a compressed air energy storage facility — basically a giant battery for renewable energy — that takes advantage of theLos Angeles utility officials had previously said the Intermountain gas plant would begin construction by Jan. 1. Asked Tuesday about that timeline, an LADWP spokeswoman said the facility is “currently in the permitting, detailed design, and contractor procurement phase.