July 24, 2008
PUBLIC POWER UTILITY IN NATION
“I am very pleased that LADWP ranks no. 1 in overall capacity of solar energy among public power utilities and no. 6 among all private and public utilities throughout the nation,” said David Nahai, LADWP CEO & general manager. “It demonstrates our aggressive efforts to increase solar power in Los Angeles as part of our strong commitment to reducing the City’s carbon footprint and increasing our supply of clean, green energy. We are committed to expanding our solar power programs much further in the near future and building upon these impressive rankings.”
The Solar Electric Power Association’s (SEPA) first annual “Top Ten Utility Solar Integration Rankings” are the results of SEPA’s 2007 U.S. Utility Solar Electricity Market Survey, which compared U.S. electric utilities by the total amount of solar electricity installed in their service territories at the end of 2007. The rankings are based on information provided though a survey of utilities and independent research. The overall rankings are broken down into categories based on the amount of solar electricity interconnected to the utility on the customer side of the meter and the utility side of the meter.
LADWP ranked highest among public power utilities with the most solar capacity on the customer side of the meter and for overall total solar capacity. LADWP ranked sixth for its overall total solar capacity among all utilities (including investor-owned utilities such as Southern California Edison and Pacific Gas & Electric).
As of the end of 2007, LADWP had a total capacity of about 12.5 megawatts installed on the customer side of the meter, according to information provided to SEPA.
The hallmark of LADWP’s solar power initiatives is its Solar Incentive Program, which began in 1999 with a commitment of $150 million, and later expanded to over $30 million per year for the next 10 years, to fund solar incentives for residential and commercial customers who seek to install solar facilities. As of June 2008, more than 1,400 solar installations have been completed or are being installed through the Solar Incentive Program, representing about 15,600 kilowatts and $76 million in incentive funding.
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