Implementing greenhouse gas emissions caps: A case study of the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power

UCLA Law Review

Volumn 55, Issue 6, 2008, Pages 1479-1503

  Carlson, Ann E ^a,b  

^a UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA   (United States)

^b Emmett Center on Climate Change and the Environment

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

EID: 53349119033     PISSN: 00415650     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: None     Document Type: Review

References (138)

1. The mobile source standards are contained in CAL. HEALTH & SAFETY CODE § 43018.5 (West Supp. 2008);
2. the economy-wide cap, known as Assembly Bill 32, 2005-2006 Leg., Reg. Sess. (Cal. 2006) (AB 32), is codified at CAL HEALTH & SAFETY CODE §§ 38500-38599 (West Supp. 2008).
3. Cal. Exec. Order No. S-3-05 (June 1, 2005), http://gov.ca.gov/index.php?/ executiveorder/1861.
4. See Mary Heim & Melanie Martindale, State of Cal., Population Projections by Race/Ethnicity for California and Its Counties 2000-2050 (2007), http://www.dof.ca.gov/html/DEMOGRAP/ReportsPapers/Projections/P1/documents/ P-1_Tables.xls.
5. See discussion supra notes 20-24.
6. In order to assist the state in developing a market-based scheme, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger created a Market Advisory Committee that issued a detailed report recommending the establishment of an economy-wide cap-and-trade system. See MKT. ADVISORY COMM., CAL. AIR RES. BD., RECOMMENDATIONS FOR DESIGNING A GREENHOUSE GAS CAP-AND-TRADE SYSTEM FOR CALIFORNIA (2007), http://www.climatechange.ca.gov/publications/market_advisory_committee/ 2007-06-29_MAC_FINAL_REPORT.PDF. The Air Resources Board recently concurred with the recommendation for an economy-wide cap-and-trade program in its Draft Scoping Plan.
7. See CAL AIR RES. BD., CLIMATE CHANGE DRAFT SCOPING PLAN: A FRAMEWORK FOR CHANGE, JUNE 2008 DISCUSSION DRAFT 11 (2008) [hereinafter DRAFT SCOPING PLAN].
8. See discussion supra notes 50-54.
9. See discussion supra notes 60-63.
10. 42 U.S.C. §§ 7401-7624 (2000).
11. 33 U.S.C. §§ 1251-1387 (2000).
12. For a list of areas of the country out of attainment with the National Ambient Air Quality Standards of the Clean Air Act, see U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, The Green Book Nonattainment Areas for Criteria Pollutants, http://www.epa.gov/oar/oaqps/greenbk/index.html (last visited May 1, 2008). For a description of the state of the nation's water bodies,
13. see ENVT. PROT. AGENCY, DRAFT REPORT ON THE ENVIRONMENT: PURER WATER (2003), available at http://www.epa.gov/roe/roe/pdf/roeWater.pdf.
14. CITY OF L.A. DEP'T OF WATER & POWER, 2007 INTEGRATED RESOURCES PLAN 8 (2007), http://www.ladwp.com/ladwp/cms/ladwp010273.pdf [hereinafter 2007 INTEGRATED RESOURCES PLAN];
15. see L.A. Dep't of Water & Power, Water and Power Today, http://www.ladwp.com/ladwp/cms/ladwp001557.jsp (last visited July 15, 2008) [hereinafter LADWP Water and Power Today].
16. Press Release, Business Wire, LADWP Reminds Customers City Has Ample Supplies of Power; Residents Asked to Use Power Wisely During Emergency (July 10, 2002), available at http://www.allbusiness.com/energy_utilities/ utilities_industry_electric_power/5975411-.html (explaining LADWP's role during the 2001 crisis).
17. See LADWP Water and Power Today, supra note 11.
18. See L.A. Dep't of Water & Power, Our Service and History, http://www.ladwp.com/ladwp/cms/ladwp000508.jsp (last visited July 15, 2008).
19. See Press Release, L.A. Dep't of Water & Power, LADWP Commissioners Approve New Water & Electric Rate Actions (Oct. 2, 2007), available at http://ladwpnews.com/go/doc/1475/176896.
20. Id.
21. See discussion supra notes 50-54.
22. Among the state's major utilities, only customers of the Sacramento Municipal Utility District pay less than DWP customers, even taking into account the proposed DWP rate increase scheduled for 2008. See News Release, LA. Dep't of Water & Power, LADWP Commissioners Approve New Water and Electric Rate Actions (Oct. 2, 2007), http://www.ladwp.com/ladwp/cms/ladwp009847.jsp;
23. see also CITY OF L.A. DEP'T OF WATER & POWER, DRAFT 2006 INTEGRATED RESOURCE PLAN 12 (2006), http://www.ladwp.com/ladwp/cms/ladwp008065.pdf [hereinafter DRAFT 2006 INTEGRATED RESOURCE PLAN].
24. See INTERGOVERNMENTAL PANA ON CLIMATE CHANGE, CLIMATE CHANGE 2007: SYNTHESIS REPORT 72 (2007), http://www.ipcc.ch/pdf/assessment-report/ar4/syr/ ar4_syr.pdf (stating that "[w]arming of the climate system is unequivocal" and "likely ... human-induced").
25. A.B. 32, 2005-2006 Leg., Reg. Sess. (Cal. 2006) (codified at CAL HEALTH & SAFETY CODE §§ 38500-38599 (West Supp. 2008)).
26. See CAL. HEALTH & SAFETY CODE § 38562(b).
27. Seth Hilton, The Impact of California's Global Warming Legislation on me Electric Utility Industry, 19 ELECTRICITY J. 10, 11-12 (2006).
28. See supra note 5.
29. See CAL. PUB. UTILS. COMM'N, INTERIM OPINION ON GREENHOUSE GAS REGULATORY STRATEGIES 4 (2008) (recommending the adoption of a cap-and-trade program for electric utilities).
30. See DRAFT SCOPING PLAN, supra note 5, at 11.
31. 2005-2006 Leg., Reg. Sess. (Cal. 2006).
32. The baseload generation performance standard is codified in Division 4-1 of the CAL. PUB. UTIL. CODE §§ 8340-8341 (West Supp. 2008).
33. See id. The Public Utilities Commission's implementation of the standard is described in a PUC news release. Press Release, Cal. Pub. Util. Comm'n, PUC Sets GHG Emissions Performance Standard to Help Mitigate Climate Change (Jan. 25, 2007), available at http://docs.cpuc.ca.gov/Published/ NEWS_RELEASE/63997.htm. The actual numeric level of the standard is 1100 pounds of carbon dioxide per megawatt hour.
34. Id.
35. See Hilton, supra note 22, at 13.
36. See id. at 14.
37. See 2002 Cal. Stat. c. 516 (codified as amended at CAL. PUB. UTIL. CODE § 399.11).
38. 2003-2004 Leg., Reg. Sess. (Cal. 2003).
39. See 2006 Cal. Stat. c. 464 (codified at CAL. PUB. UTIL. CODE § 399.11).
40. See LA. Dep't of Water & Power, Renewable Energy Policy, http://www.ladwp.com/ladwp/cms/ladwp005864.jsp (last visited June 12, 2008).
41. See DRAFT SCOPING PLAN, supra note 5, at 11.
42. 2007 INTEGRATED RESOURCE PLAN, supra note 11, at D-4 (setting forth the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power Renewables Portfolio Standard Policy).
43. See STATE OF CAL. ENERGY COMMX PUBUC UTILS. COMM'N, ENERGY ACTION PLAN II: IMPLEMENTATION ROADMAP FOR ENERGY POLICIES 2 (2005), http://www.energy.ca.gov/energy_action_plan/2005-09- 21_EAP2_FINAL.PDF. The loading order was established in the state's first Energy Action Plan in 2003.
44. See CAL EXEC. ORDER NO. S-20-04 (July 27, 2004), http://www.dot.ca.gov/hq/energy/ExecotderS-20-04.htm. The passage of Senate Bill 1037 codified it in 2005.
45. Id.
46. See 2007 INTEGRATED RESOURCE PLAN, supra note 11, at 1.
47. CAL. ENERGY COMM'N, 2007 INTEGRATED ENERGY POLICY REPORT 2 (2007), http://www.ladwp.com/ ladwp/cms/ladwp010273.pdf [hereinafter 2007 INTEGRATED ENERGY POLICY REPORT].
48. id.
49. DEVRA BACHRACH, MATT ARDEMA & ALEX LEUPP, NATURAL RES. DER COUNCIL & SILICON VALLEY MFG. GROUP, ENERGY EFFICIENCY LEADERSHIP IN CALIFORNIA 2 (2003), available at http://www.nrdc.org/air/ energy/eecal/eecal.pdf.
50. Id.
51. 2007 INTEGRATED ENERGY POLICY REPORT, supra note 40, at 3.
52. Id. at 3.
53. Id.
54. Id. at 19.
55. CAL. ENERGY COMM'N, 2006 NET SYSTEM POWER REPORT 3-4 (2007), available at http://www.energy.ca.gov/2007publications/CEC-300-2007-007/CEC-300-2007-007.PDF. The figures vary somewhat from year to year because of variability in the energy mix, particularly because of energy generation from northwest hydroelectric power.
56. Id. at 2.
57. ENERGY INFO. ADMIN., ELECTRICITY INFOCARD 2006 (2007), available at http://www.eia.doe.gov/ bookshelf/brochures/electricityinfocard/elecinfocard2006/elecinfocard.html.
58. See 2007 INTEGRATED RESOURCE PLAN, supra note 11, at 18.
59. See id. at 22.
60. U.S. ENERGY INFO. ADMIN., ELECTRIC POWER ANNUAL 2006, at 2 (2007), available at http://www.eia.doe.gov/cneaf/electricity/epa/epa.pdf.
61. 2007 INTEGRATED ENERGY POLICY REPORT, supra note 40, at 26.
62. 2007 INTEGRATED RESOURCE PLAN, supra note 11, at 22.
63. See Cal. Air Res. Bd., Draft California Greenhouse Gas Inventory - By IPCC Category (2007), available at http://www.arb.ca.gov/cc/ inventory/data/tables/rpt_inventory_IPCC_sum_2007-11-19.pdf.
64. Total California emissions in 2004 were 479.74 million metric tons of carbon dioxide compared with 426.6 million metric tons of carbon dioxide in 1990. Id. at 22.
65. Total emissions from "Main Activity Electricity and Heat Production" grew from 115.84 million metric tons in 1990 to 123.20 million metric tons in 2004. Id. at 1.
66. ENVT. PROT. AGENCY, INVENTORY OF U.S. GREENHOUSE GAS EMISSIONS AND SINKS: 1990-2006, at 2-1 (2008), available at http://www.epa.gov/climatechange/ emissions/downloads/08_CR.pdf.
67. 2007 INTEGRATED RESOURCE PLAN, supra note 11, at 24-25.
68. See CAL. CLIMATE ACTION REGISTRY, LOS ANGELES DEPARTMENT OF WATER AND POWER ANNUAL EMISSIONS REPORT 5 (2005), available at http://www.climateregistry.org/ CARROT/public/reports.aspx (choose 'Los Angeles Department of Water and Power' under Entity Name).
69. Id.
70. DRAFT 2006 INTEGRATED RESOURCE PLAN, supra note 18, at 3.
71. 2007 INTEGRATED RESOURCE PLAN, supra note 11, at 24.
72. See Heim & Martindale, supra note 3. Not all of this increase in population will be served by the DWP since the population projections cover all of Los Angeles County, not simply the City of Los Angeles, which is the DWP's customer base.
73. DRAFT 2006 INTEGRATED RESOURCE PLAN, supra note 18, at 1, 17.
74. 2007 INTEGRATED ENERGY POLICY REPORT, supra note 40, at 1.
75. 2007 INTEGRATED RESOURCE PLAN, supra note 11, at 5.
76. Cal. Exec. Order No. S-3-05 (June 1, 2005), available at http://gov.ca.gov/index.php?/executive-order/1861.
77. 2007 INTEGRATED RESOURCE PLAN, supra note 11, at 9.
78. Id. at 22.
79. Id. at 27.
80. Id.
81. Id. at D-2.
82. The 2005 RFP was issued by the Southern California Public Power Authority. See DRAFT
83. 2006 INTEGRATED RESOURCE PLAN, supra note 18, at D-7 to D-8.
84. See id. at D-7.
85. See id. at D-11.
86. 2007 INTEGRATED RESOURCE PLAN, supra note 11, at D-14.
87. See id. at D-14 to D-15.
88. See id. at D-13.
89. Pew Center on Global Climate Change, Renewable Portfolio Standards (2008), available at http://www.pewclimate.org/wliat_s_being_done/ in_the_states/rps.cfm.
90. 2007 INTEGRATED RESOURCE PLAN, supra note 11, at D-14 to D-15.
91. See id.
92. Id. at D-5 (setting forth the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power Renewable Portfolio Standard Policy (as amended April 2007)).
93. Id.
94. Telephone Interview With Mary Nichols, Former President, L.A. Dep't of Water and Power (Jan. 17, 2008);
95. see also Western Area Power Admin., LADWP Explores O&M Options for Utility-Owned Wind Futilities, 26 ENERGY SERV. BULL. 4, 4 (2007), available at http://www.wapa.gov/es/pubs/ esb/2007/nov/nov072.htm ("It was at the request of its union, the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 18, that LADWP decided to keep the operation and maintenance of the wind farm in-house.");
96. Press Release, Int'l Bhd. of Elec. Workers, Local 18, Los Angeles Power Purchase Threatens to Betray City's Environmental Leadership (Aug. 15, 2006), available at http://www.ibewlocal18.org/pages/PressReleases/ LosAngelesPowerPurchase.pdf (criticizing DWP for purchasing wind power rather than creating new sources of renewable energy).
97. Press Release, Int'l Bhd. of Elec. Workers, supra note 85.
98. 2007 INTEGRATED RESOURCE PLAN, supra note 11, at D-10.
99. See id. at D-11 to D-12.
100. See LA. Dep't of Water & Power, Application for Transportation and Utility Systems and Facilities on Federal Land (Dec. 27, 2006), http://www.stopgreenpath.com/first/LADWP-BLM%20Application.pdf.
101. See id. at 3.
102. See Stop Green Path North, Green Path North Faces Stiff Opposition, http://www.stopgreenpath.com/resolutions.html (last visited Mar. 16, 2008).
103. Stop Green Path North Home Page, http://www.stopgreenpath.com (last visited Mar. 16, 2008).
104. California Desert Coalition Home Page, http://www.cadesertco.org/index. html (last visited Mar. 16, 2008).
105. Lauren McSherry, Desert Debate: Sierra Club Joins Forces Against Plan, THE SUN (San Bernadino, Cal.), Feb. 21, 2008.
106. Id.
107. Id.
108. See Letter From Michael Cipra, California Desert Program Manager, Nat'l Parks Conservation Ass'n, to Antonio Villaraigosa, Mayor, City of L.A. (Feb. 28, 2008), available at http://www.cadesertco.org/news/ npca%201etter%20to%201a%20mayor.pdf.
109. See California Renewable Energy Transmission Initiative Mission Statement (Apr. 25, 2008), http://www.energy.ca.gov/reti/MISSION_STATEMENT.PDF.
110. 16 U.S.C.A. § 824p (2008).
111. See id.
112. See Press Release, U.S. Dep't of Energy, DOE Designates Southwest Area and MidAtlantic Area National Interest Electric Transmission Corridors (Oct. 2, 2007), available at http://www.doe.gov/news/5538.htm.
113. Dan Miller, Proposed Power line Corridors Sparks Counties' Ire, COUNTY NEWS (Wash., D.C.), June 4, 2007, at 1.
114. Press Release, The Wilderness Society, Lawsuit Aims to Correct Errors in DOE's Transmission Corridor Designations: Wild Places and Historic Battlefields Endangered by Department of Energy's Rash Decisions to Deny Rehearing and Ignore National Environmental Laws (Mar. 14, 2008), available at http://www.wildemess. org/NewsRoom/Release/20080314.cfm.
115. SEE COMM. ON ENVTL. IMPACTS OF WIND ENERGY PROJECTS, NATL RESEARCH COUNCIL, ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS OF WIND-ENERGY PROJECTS (2007).
116. ELAINE SISON-LEBRILLA & VALENTINO TIANGCO, CAL. ENERGY COMM., CALIFORNIA GEOTHERMAL RESOURCES 12 (2005), available at http://www.energy.ca.gov/2005publications/CEC-500-2005-070/CEC-500- 2005-070.PDF.
117. 2007 INTEGRATED RESOURCE PLAN, supra note 11, at 18, A-1.
118. Id. at 46-48.
119. Id. at 46.
120. For a description of once-through cooling, see RiverKeeper v. EPA (RiverKeeper II), 475 F.3d 83, 91 n.3 (2d Cir. 2007).
121. See, e.g., Cal. State Lands Comm'n, Resolution by the California State Lands Commission Regarding Once-Through Cooling in California Power Plants 1 (Apr. 13, 2006), available at http://www.energy.ca.gov/siting/ documents/2006-04-13_SLC_PROPOSED_COOLING.PDF.
122. Appalachian Power Co. v. Train, 566 F.2d 451 (4th Cir. 1977).
123. The history is set forth in RiverKeeper II, 475 F.3d at 91-94. The Phase I rules were struck down in part in RiverKeeper v. EPA (RiverKeeper I), 358 F.3d 174 (2d Cir. 2004).
124. The Phase II rule was struck down in part by RiverKeeper II, 475 F3d at 130-31.
125. RiverKeeper II, 475 F.3d at 92-93.
126. Energy Corp. v. EPA, 128S.Q. 1867 (2008).
127. See 2007 INTEGRATED RESOURCE PLAN, supra note 11, at C-13.
128. See id.
129. See ELEC POWER RESEARCH INST., ISSUES ANALYSIS OF RETROFITTING CNCE- THROUGH COOLED PLANTS WITH OJOSED- CYCLE COOLING 3-4 (2007), http://www.swrcb.ca.gov/ water_issues/programs/npdes/docs/cwa316b/epri_retrofit_otc.pdf.
130. See id. at app. B (evaluating Scattergood retrofit).
131. 2007 INTEGRATED RESOURCE PLAN, supra note 11, at D-2.
132. See discussion supra notes 26-30.
133. See GLOBAL ENERGY TECH. STRATEGY PROGRAM, CARBON DIOXIDE CAPTURE AND GEOLOGICAL STORAGE 13 (2006) [hereinafter CARBON DIOXIDE CAPTURE AND GEOLOGICAL STORAGE].
134. MASS. INST, OF TECH., THE FUTURE OF COAL OPTIONS FOR A CARBON-CONSTRAINED WORLD, atxii (2007), http://web.mit.edu/coal/ The_Future_of_Coal_Summary_Report.pdf (emphasis added).
135. Id.
136. See CARBON DIOXIDE CAPTURE AND GEOLOGICAL STORAGE, supra note 122, at 14.
137. Id. at 43.
138. For a discussion of the intermittent nature of diese resources and the problems they can cause for the reliability of supply, see 2007 INTEGRATED RESOURCE PLAN, supra note 11, at 17, 41-44.