City of Baldwin Park to host 29th annual Tree Lighting Ceremony
Los Angeles Times seeks LAFD member misconduct records
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Sustainable Pasadena: City strives for 100% carbon-free energy by 2030
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| Image courtesy of the city of Pasadena
"This solar agreement is another important step in continuing to expand PWP’s clean power portfolio and is one of many long-term arrangements currently in development to help achieve our sustainability goals." Geothermal In July, PWP announced another addition to its growing alternative energy portfolio — 25 megawatts of geothermal power. The City Council approved a 15-year contract with the SCPPA for the purchase of geothermal energy from Geysers Power Co., a subsidiary of Calpine
Corp., beginning Jan. 1, 2027. "Located in Lake County, California, The Geysers Geothermal Project ... is North America’s largest producer of clean, reliable renewable geothermal power," according to a PWP statement. The utility is currently updating its Power Integrated Resource Plan, which is Pasadena’s long-term guide for supplying reliable and environmentally responsible electricity at competitive rates, officials said. PWP's acquisition of this geothermal energy helps
to advance its goals for reducing carbon emissions identified in the 2021 Power IRP, officials said. Combined with the 2020 Coso Geothermal Project contract, which is also slated to start delivering electricity in 2027, geothermal power is expected to make up about 25% of PWP’s "retail energy sales" by the end of 2027. Electric vehicles Boasting more than 100 publicly accessible charging stations for electric vehicles, Public Information Coordinator Justin Pensacola called
See Sustainable Pasadena Page 27
NO. 149
LA council OKs hike limits on rent-controlled units By Jose Herrera, City News Service
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By Joe Taglieri joet@beaconmedianews.com ith nearly a year gone by since the Pasadena City Council declared a goal of completely carbon-free energy by the end of 2030, officials provided a review of the local power utility's current efforts to promote sustainability and combat climate change. More solar power In August, Pasadena Water and Power announced an expanded energy portfolio that includes additional sun-generated electricity. According to PWP, the agency is among three community-owned utilities that have signed a 20-year contract with the Southern California Public Power Authority for buying solar energy. The agreement calls for 117 megawatts of solar power generated by EDF Renewable North America's planned Sapphire Solar Project, which will be located in Riverside County when it comes online in 2025. PWP's 65,000 electricity customers will get one-third of Sapphire megawatts starting Dec. 31, 2026, according to PWP. Augmenting the solar energy production, SCPPA has the option to procure a 59-MW battery energy storage system on the project site. "PWP takes pride in providing safe, reliable, environmentally responsible water and power service at competitive rates," the utility's General Manager Sidney Jackson said in a statement.
VOL. 11,
he Los Angeles City Council on Tuesday approved an ordinance that would limit rent increases on rentstabilized units to 4%, or up to 6% if landlords cover gas and electric costs. Council members voted 11-2 in favor of the ordinance, which will now return to the council on Dec. 5 for a second and final vote before it can be enacted. Council members John Lee and Traci Park voted against it, while Council President Paul Krekorian and Councilman Curren Price recused themselves because they are landlords. The law would limit rent hikes for properties that are subject to the city's rent-control law, and would limit the increases from Feb. 1 to June 30, 2024, with the council expecting a report from the Housing Department in midDecember that will help better determine appropriate rent hikes for rent-controlled units going forward. In an effort to assist mom-and-pop landlords and tenants who will be impacted by a rent increase, the council instructed the Housing Department, in consultation with the United to House LA Citizens Oversight Committee, to develop programs for the maintenance and preservation of rent-controlled units. Council members also requested a report back on establishing a rule or policy that would help distinguish mom-and-pop landlords from corporate landlords, in an attempt to ensure small landlords can receive city resources to stay afloat. The council's action was prompted by the pending Jan. 31 sunset of a pandemic-era rent freeze placed on rentstabilized units. The city's Rent Stabilization Ordinance was adopted in 1979 and applies to rental housing built before 1978. It limits the allowable increase for rent-controlled units, tying rent increases to the consumer price index, a measure of inflation. Rent hikes would be calculated using a formula outlined in the city's rent control law, using the consumer price index from October 2022 to September 2023 instead of from October 2021 to September 2022. According to Councilman Bob Blumenfield, who introduced the proposal, by using the most recent consumer price index, the formula would allow a rent increase of 4%, up to 6%, instead of what would have been a 7%, up to 9%, increase. "So, that's why I put that forward in committee, because it didn't change the formula. It merely changed the window that we look at that formula to make it the most updated window," Blumenfield previously said. Councilman Hugo Soto-Martinez originally proposed extending the pandemic-era rent freeze, but that idea did not garner enough support. See Rent control Page 27