Mayor Bass Highlights Steps Towards Building Greener Los Angeles During First Year in Office

“We are building a greener Los Angeles with the urgency that this crisis requires,” said Mayor Bass. “We will continue to lock arms with all levels of government to make our air cleaner and our economy more sustainable.”

Building on the work of former Mayors Antonio Villaraigosa and Eric Garcetti, Mayor Bass has been able to deliver major investments as Los Angeles continues to lead on climate. This afternoon, the Mayor will visit the Donald C. Tillman Water Reclamation Plant where she will highlight the results of efforts taken since she was sworn in to enhance water conservation, further electrify our transportation system, decarbonize power generation, and reduce greenhouse gas emissions from commercial and residential buildings. The Mayor also released a video this afternoon highlighting progress on these important issues. Watch the video here. 

Ahead of the anniversary of her first year in office on December 12th, Mayor Bass is criss-crossing Los Angeles highlighting her work on homelessness, safety, business, climate and city services. This week, Mayor Bass will participate in events in West Los Angeles, the San Fernando Valley, East Los Angeles, Mid-City, South Los Angeles, San Pedro and Downtown. 

"Climate change is making Los Angeles' complicated relationship with water even more challenging," said Tracy Quinn, CEO of Heal the Bay and Board Director at Metropolitan Water District of Southern California, "In Mayor Bass' first year in office, we have seen significant state and federal funding to improve our region's climate resilience. Her ability to work with leaders at all levels of government is unprecedented, and allows us to act with the urgency required to solve the climate crisis here in LA, and throughout the country."

“In her first year in office, Mayor Bass has taken great strides in creating a greener Los Angeles,” said Jonathan Parfrey, Executive Director of Climate Resolve. “LADWP's new Powered by Equity initiative is a major accomplishment. Mayor Bass is guiding the City's utility to not only achieve net zero emissions, but do so in a way that uplifts communities with much needed investment and opportunity. The Mayor and her office have been great partners to us at Climate Resolve as we work to champion equitable climate solutions and address the global problem with local action. We look forward to continued work with her office as we make great progress to create a greener L.A.”

"In South Los Angeles, we know there is much work to be done in leading a climate-resilient community with green spaces, living wage jobs, and accessible public transportation. Mayor Karen Bass is leading the charge and, in her first year, has given the climate crisis the critical attention and resources required to ensure that Los Angeles can continue to lead the nation in equity and sustainability. We are fortunate to have Mayor Bass as a strong partner in fostering economic development through climate action." Zahirah Mann, President and CEO, SLATE-Z. 

Building a Greener Los Angeles: Mayor Bass is building a greener Los Angeles and will continue to lead L.A. to a new era of sustainability that supports frontline communities while making major investments in energy efficiency and creating thousands of good-paying jobs in the process.

• Securing Resources To Confront This Crisis: Through locking arms, Mayor Bass continues to deliver for Los Angeles.
  • The City of Los Angeles played an integral role in securing $1.2 billion for California in federal funding to expedite the growth and implementation of clean renewable hydrogen, which is essential for reducing pollution and advancing the clean energy sector across the state. Much of this award will be given to Los Angeles to kickstart major decarbonization projects at the Port of Los Angeles and at LADWP’s Scattergood Generating Facility. 
  • Los Angeles secured $48 million from tthe U.S Department of Energy’s Grid Deployment Office to enhance Los Angeles’ grid flexibility,  and improve its resilience against growing threats of extreme weather and climate change. The grant, which was issued through the Grid Resilience and Innovation Partnerships (GRIP) program, will help LADWP create one single platform where distributed energy resources like electric vehicles (EVs) and EV chargers, energy storage, solar photovoltaic systems (PV), and demand response infrastructure can be controlled, in response to grid needs. Doing so will enable LADWP to quickly rebalance the electrical system after an extreme climate event like wildfires, heatwaves or tropical storms.
  • Los Angeles secured $19 million in state funding to support climate resiliency and the Department of Water and Power’s turf replacement program. $15 million of this award will fund a free lawn replacement program for single-family homes in underserved communities that could save 77 million gallons of water each year. 
  • The City was awarded $1 million in state funding to support integrated regional water management for the Whitsett Fields Park North Stormwater Capture Project. The Project will install an underground infiltration gallery that will capture stormwater from a regional storm drain and infiltrate the stormwater at Whitsett Field Park North. It is projected that this Project will capture 60 million gallons of stormwater per year, enough to serve over 700 families.
• Purifying Los Angeles Water: The City approved the “Donald Tillman Water Advanced Water Purification Facility” in the San Fernando Valley community of Van Nuys, home to one of the largest potable reuse projects in the country. With construction starting less than a year from now (October 2024), the project will provide benefits to all of Los Angeles by establishing a new, resilient and sustainable drought-proof supply of water for more than 250,000 Angelenos. The $700M project is a joint partnership between LADWP and LA Sanitation, and represents the City’s proactive steps to mitigate the water supply challenges from climate change.
• Decreasing Waste: In July, LAX eliminated single-use plastic water bottle sales, becoming the second airport in the world to institute a ban.
• Creating a More Equitable Los Angeles for All: 
  • LADWP released its LA100 Equity Strategies with the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) and UCLA that provides community-guided, data-driven strategies for increasing equity in LA’s transition to clean energy. The centerpiece of the initiative is providing city-owned battery electric vehicle charging infrastructure in underserved communities where EV charging capacity currently lags behind that found in more affluent communities. To support the transition to EVs for Angelenos, LADWP is also increasing its Used EV Rebate from $2,500 to $4,000 for customers participating in the Lifeline or EZ-SAVE discount rate programs.
• Rain Capture: The wetter than average year allowed the City to capture 48.2 billion gallons of rainwater since Mayor Bass took office. The San Fernando Park Infiltration Project was recently completed and consists of a subsurface infiltration gallery situated beneath the open space and baseball field areas of the San Fernando Regional Park. This stormwater capture project will be ready to capture, treat, and infiltrate stormwater and dry-weather runoff to recharge the San Fernando Groundwater Basin by an average of 145 million gallons per year, enough to serve over 1,700 households. The park improvements above these stormwater capture facilities are almost complete.
• Electrifying the Transportation System:
  • In August, Los Angeles launched the first 100% electric full-size street sweeper in the United States.
  • The City itself has installed nearly 100 Level 2 chargers and 12 Fast Chargers for electric vehicles throughout city facilities in Los Angeles. There are more than 27,000 electric vehicle chargers in Los Angeles.
  • The Los Angeles Department of Transportation (LADOT) added 26 electric DASH buses across Los Angeles this year and is now up to 56. The fleet continues to grow. 
  • The City released a Request for Proposals to create a 100% public EV truck charging depot at the Port of Los Angeles, receiving significant interest from bidders. The site is expected to be in service by 2025.
  • The Bureau of Street Lighting secured a grant from the California Energy Commission to install 120 curbside EV chargers in the Lincoln Heights and Boyle Heights neighborhoods.
• Increasing Energy Affordability with Energy Efficiency and Building in a Cleaner Way:
  • The Comprehensive Affordable Multifamily Retrofits (CAMR) Program, created to support low-income, multifamily property owners and residents who want to expand their energy efficiency and install local solar on their rooftops, has more than 100 projects and 9,500 housing units in the pipeline. 
  • The Zero by Design construction program was launched to encourage high efficiency buildings for commercial and high-rise residential projects.
  • Grant programs like the community emission reduction grant programs that fund installation of cool roofs, solar arrays, electric vehicles and charging stations in impacted communities, of which LADWP is providing $4.6 million are available to Angelenos. 
• Progress Towards Running on 100% Clean Power:
  • LADWP became the first municipal utility to establish science-based targets for greenhouse gas (GHG) reduction as work continues to limit climate change throughout the world. 
  • LADWP launched the Commercial Energy Storage 2 Grid (CES2G) Pilot, which allows for large energy storage battery systems and electric vehicle owners to return their energy back to the grid during electricity demand peaks.
  • LADWP continues to work on the Green Meadows project, which will serve as a resiliency hub for the community of Watts. The project will feature solar power generation, energy storage and EV chargers. It will provide grid resiliency and a cooling center during heat storm events. The estimated project completion is August 2024.
  • Just this year, Los Angeles added roughly 75 megawatts of solar power for businesses and residences, which now brings the City’s total to about 150,000 homes and businesses participating in LADWP solar programs.
• Working Internationally to Confront Climate Change:  
  • Deputy Mayor of Energy and Sustainability Nancy Sutley participated in a California Trade Mission to Japan in March 2023 that led to the launch of Green Shipping Corridors with the Port of Tokyo and Port of Yokohama. Green Shipping Corridors are shipping routes on which zero-carbon ships and other emissions reductions are deployed, measured, and enabled through public and private actions and policies. 
  • The City announced the implementation plan outline for the first Trans-Pacific Green Shipping Corridor for both the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach to accelerate emissions reductions in the busiest shipping container routes. The plan includes commitments from carrier partners to deploy reduced or zero lifecycle carbon capable ships on the corridor by 2025.  
  • Deputy Mayor Sutley also traveled to Jordan to conduct high level meetings with the Government of Jordan and the City of Amman regarding collaboration on climate change, and will continue to leverage these critical relationships while sharing best practices on water scarcity and greening of the environment. 
  • Deputy Mayor Sutley participated in an International Water Reuse Convention in Cape Town, South Africa to share Los Angeles’s achievements and future plans in water recycling with other nations.