Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (LADWP) is to include all existing hydro power in its renewable portfolio standard (RPS) with the exception of the energy it gets from Hoover dam.
The RPS target is for 20% of the city’s energy to be generated from renewable sources by 2017. The largest of the hydro facilities to be listed is rated at 52MW as councillors decided against including the Hoover dam which supplies up to 491MW of capacity to Los Angeles. Californian state law only recognises hydro power facilities up to 30MW in capacity as renewable, but it does not apply directly to municipal utilities like LADWP.
In addition to the hydro power schemes, LADWP is expected to begin awarding contracts for new renewables projects next February. It is currently in the progress of reviewing over 40 plans which it received in response to an earlier request for proposals.