Los Angeles says so long to coal

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Los Angeles has officially broken up with coal.City officials on Thursday announced that the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power has stopped receiving coal-powered electricity from its last remaining coal source, the Intermountain generating station in Utah.

“This is a defining moment for the City of Los Angeles,” Mayor Karen Bass said at a news conference.“L.A.’s coal divestment is not just about discontinuing the use of coal to power our city — it’s about building a clean energy economy that benefits every Angeleno.

This milestone will further accelerate our transition to 100% clean energy by 2035.” Electricity generation is one of biggest causes of climate change, and burning coal is the most destructive way to generate power from a climate and environmental perspective.The city has committed to achieving carbon-free energy in the next decade through investments in cleaner technologies such as solar, wind, battery energy storage and hydrogen.

To replace a 40-year-old Utah coal plant, Los Angeles is investing in green hydrogen.California has been gradually moving away from coal, which supplied just 2.2% of the state’s electricity in 2024, according to the California Energy Commission.Nearly all of that was from the Intermountain Power Project, which provided 11% of L.A.’s energy last year.

The DWP divested from another large coal source, the Navajo Generating Station in Arizona, in 2016.“This transition has been years in the making,” DWP chief executive Janisse Quiñones said in a statement.

“It reflects the hard work of our employees, the support of our customers, and the leadership of our elected officials.Together, we are building a cleaner, more resilient energy future for Los Angeles.”More than 60% of the city’s energy supply is now coming from renewable sources, Quiñones said, including the newly completed Eland solar-plus-storage c...