LADWP Approves Hydrogen Plan Despite Major Climate Drawbacks

Los Angeles, CA - Yesterday the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (LADWP) Board voted 3-0 to approve a controversial plan to pour a minimum of $800 million into retrofitting the Scattergood Generating Station in El Segundo to burn a blend of hydrogen and methane gas. The decision could threaten the country's largest municipal utility's goals to reach carbon-neutrality by 2035 by prolonging reliance on fossil fuels.

Nearly all of the hydrogen produced today is sourced from fossil fuels with forecasts expecting that trend to continue. The greenwashed fuel requires an immense amount of water and produces toxic pollutants when burned, releasing them into nearby communities already struggling with severe air pollution.

LADWP's vote is the first step to rebuild a string of gas plans to use hydrogen at its in-basin gas plants in Sun Valley, Wilmington, and Long Beach. Sierra Club, Communities for a Better Environment, Third Act SoCal, Food and Water Watch, and community members testified against the plan, saying it is an unproven technology that will allow polluting gas plants to stay open even longer.

In response, Sierra Club's Senior Organizer Campaign Organizer Julia Dowell said:

"Los Angeles just gave a lifeline to fossil fuels, committing to extremely expensive and polluting fuels when cheaper non-combustion alternatives are available. Hydrogen combustion is not a climate solution, especially when mixed with methane gas. We must be extremely skeptical that this plan will work at all and instead focus ambitiously pursuing more clean energy and storage solutions to meet our energy needs."

About the Sierra Club

The Sierra Club is America's largest and most influential grassroots environmental organization, with millions of members and supporters. In addition to protecting every person's right to get outdoors and access the healing power of nature, the Sierra Club works to promote clean energy, safeguard the health of our communities, protect wildlife, and preserve our remaining wild places through grassroots activism, public education, lobbying, and legal action. For more information, visit https://www.sierraclub.org.