The City of Glendale is evaluating several options for “repowering” its aging natural gas power plant at the Grayson power plant. Apart from a “do nothing” option, the three proposals for replacing the facility involve building new gas plants of varying sizes and configurations. The City recommended option is the largest of these proposed configurations – a 250 megawatt combined cycle gas plant.
The proposed plant raises several serious concerns. Some are strictly financial. The proposed plant will generate more power than Glendale needs, thus requiring the city to find buyers for its excess power; this poses a big risk for Glendale rate payers in an environment where the state is facing an oversupply of power. The proposal also overestimates the useful life of the plant, underestimates the cost of cap and trade permits, and downplays the declining trajectory of prices for wind, solar and battery storage.
The direct consequence to us is the impact the plant will have on the immediate environment in and around Glendale and on our shared climate. We ask that the Glendale City Council stop the CEQA process and commission independent experts to assess zero carbon alternatives to its plans for replacing Grayson.
State Senator Anthony Portantino sums up the problems with the plant expansion with his letter to the editor of the LA Times: “In short, the Grayson proposal would increase emissions and particulates that would adversely affect our climate and potentially impact the health of children at Benjamin Franklin Elementary, Mark Keppel Elementary and the Disney Children’s Center, as well as elderly residents of nearby Pelanconi Estates. The DEIR predicts global warming emissions will increase nearly seven-fold. This is the equivalent to 90,000 additional cars on Glendale’s roads.”
For more information and to stay up to date on this effort, follow StopGrayson.com and the GEC Facebook group.
Take Action:
- Show the Glendale City Council that you support zero carbon alternatives for replacing Grayson.
- Sign up for email updates at StopGrayson.com
- Like the Glendale Environmental Coalition Page on Facebook
- Visit gofossilfree.org and learn how to urge your city to divest from projects like these
- The job going forward will be to make sure the Request For Information (RFI) process is thorough, even handed, and transparent. Stay tuned for next steps!