In a surprise, support for L.A. solar panel measure fades

The Los Angeles election delivered a few surprises, and the biggest was the weak showing for Measure B, the plan for adding 400 megawatts of solar panels to rooftops and parking lots.

The City Clerk's office reported that 50.3% of voters were rejecting Measure B.

The outcome could still change because thousands of late absentee and provisional ballots must be counted over the next few days. But the unofficial results quickly created a series of awkward moments for the civic leaders who had prematurely declared victory throughout the course of election night.

First up was H. David Nahai, the head of the Department of Water and Power, who sent an e-mail statement to reporters at 11:12 p.m. hailing Measure B's passage and congratulating voters for making "a bold choice for the environment." In his statement, Nahai said the DWP "has already laid the groundwork for ramping up the workforce required to begin implementing Measure B."

Half an hour later, the solar energy campaign sent its own e-mail, titled "Los Angeles Labor, Environmental, Community Leaders Celebrate Passage of Measure B." That statement said the DWP would have a Measure B implementation plan ready within 90 days.

And shortly after midnight, the head of the Los Angeles County Federation of Labor sent her own statement touting her group's involvement in the Measure B campaign. "Tonight, voters clearly agreed that Measure B is more of what we need to get our environment and economy back on track," said Maria Elena Durazo, the federation's secretary treasurer.

At the time, Measure B looked like it was still a shoo-in.

The results are a turnaround from a few days ago, when the Measure B campaign boasted that its ballot measure was polling in the high 60s. Because the measure only needed a simple majority, passage seemed inevitable.

Yet the solar plan also faced a buzz-saw of criticism from the dozens of neighborhood councils that had taken a position against it. Opponents warned that the plan would dramatically increase electrical rates and prevent construction-trade workers from getting work installing the panels.

Supporters sharply disagreed, saying that Measure B would create new jobs, improve the environment and provide new training opportunities for low-income adults attempting to enter the workforce. The International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, which represents DWP workers, put its money and considerable clout behind the measure, saying the city had waited too long for a coherent solar plan.

Even if Measure B goes down to defeat, nothing would prevent the city's political leaders from dusting themselves off, reexamining the solar plan and sending it to the commission that oversees the DWP for a vote. Backers of Measure B bypassed that panel the first time around, opting to send it to the ballot instead.

The commission's members are appointed by Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, who appeared in TV commercials for Measure B. If they act, they could easily breathe new life into the flagging solar plan.

-- David Zahniser

Comments

[Sarah]

The defeat of Measure B is a rejection of the Mayor's constant sellout to the unions of the City. The Mayor has literally given away the City's treasury and wanted to give the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers MORE. Who wants to pay even more with this ego-driven mess as governor? This guy's political career needs to end. The sooner the better.

[Lou Filliger]

I wish more Angelenos would take note of the incredible arrogance displayed by these Measure B supporters. Sending e-mails around congratulating each other when the measure is actually losing! They blithely assume that people are too stupid and/or apathetic to care about the mockery they (the politicians) are making of our financial situation. And most of the time they're right, but hopefully not this time. It shows what grass-roots efforts can do to stop these preposterous, self-serving, union-backed, and largely corrupt ballot measures.

[Nick]

Sweet! Just say no to DWP/ union waste and the lock out of private contractors. Lets have open and transparent bidding for projects.

[sheila]

OK, so it's time to get serious about clean, fair, affordable solar energy! Everyone needs to push hard on the City Council to fund AB 811 loans so that WE can install solar on our roofs for no money down, and with a 20-year loan that attaches to the property (not to us). It will cost the city nothing, will cost other ratepayers nothing, and will get solar on thousands of rooftops within months.

This means good jobs, improved property values, cleaner power, and democratizing/stabilizing our grid. It's a total win.

While we're at it, let's demand that they finally put their money where their mouth is. They are "claiming" that they have a plan for feed in tariffs, which are payments to ratepayers who generate more power than they use - which is much better than "net metering" which forces us to give power to DWP for free - but they have never done it.

We need a minimum of 40 cents/kWh for excess we feed into the grid. It will be FAR cheaper than building DWP-owned monopoly boondoggles (since we have to pay 100% of the cost), and will allow economic stimulus in our communities. payback time on rooftop solar will be only a few years if we manage our consumption well, and even a tidy profit if we invest heavily in clean, harmless power generated where it is needed - right in LA.

NOW is the time for US to get the incentives that Big Energy has been hogging. We have a right to the same loans, tax breaks, and payment guarantees that the Robber Barons get, but we will only get them if we demand them.

[Da Maverick]

Normally, I bash the L.A electorate as consisting of Union droids or t.v. droids, but this time, it's clear that a "hard core"electorate consisting of much wiser and smarter people rightfully voted down a plan that has the horrid stench of pork barrel.

In our dire economy, the objective should be to give jobs to people who currently do not have one.Measure B would simply give those who currently have jobs (DWP employees) with even MORE work. It's essentially the DWP enriching itself and lying to the rest of us about how their plan "creates" jobs. Good Job angelenos!

[Jason]

Good work LA for standing up to yet another pork barrel plan for unions that the City can't afford!

Our sales taxes are going up, water rates are going up, income taxes are going up and our auto registration fees are going up. Meanwhile, the City's generous pension funds are all underfunded by hundreds of millions of dollars, the City can't balance it's books and schools have stupid rules such as textbooks must be replaced every four years.

Enough is enough!

[dgoshilla]

This is further proof that corruption lies not just within the ranks of government but also within local councils and grassroots. Its a stark reminder that capitalist and environmentalist are not mutually exclusive.

[Janet]

GOOD FOR THE UNDERDOGS. THanks to all who didn't have any money oppsoing Measure B but were more passionate on the side of the people to fight the lies the Mayor, city council and DWP. This shows that the people can win against government. Thanks to Ron Kaye, Jack Humphrey and the rest who were dragged into court by Villaraigosa's lawyers because they believed the people were being lied to. People in LA need to wake up about the corruption in city hall.

[Eddie]

I didn't vote against solar power, but I did vote against the agency that would handle the money

[Laura Foti Cohen]

Honestly, I think a few years ago this kind of boondoggle would have passed, strictly because even voters who saw it for what it was just weren't goaded into action. The growth of grassroots, email-based campaigns, such as those against Measure B and Jack Weiss this time around, can have a greater impact than millions spent on TV advertising. What chance do lies and politics as usual have against truth and a call to action from someone you know and respect?

[Javgonz]

We need hundreds and hundreds of mega watts for LA right now and for our future. We need reusable energy so we do not continue to destroy our planet.

So some neighborhood councils as mad the weren't "Consulted" and the business community and low wage workers want o to "Sub" the work out to contractors who pay less and take more for CEOs. Great more haliburton!

Grow up folks. We need good jobs, green energy. This was a good measure. Rates co up short term, go down long term, but millions of pounds of carbons would disapear in la basin area.

[William Ernest Schenewerk, Ph.D.]

California electrical load only falls 7.3 per cent from peak value when the sun sets on the highest load day. This fact limits solar PV to 7.3 per cent peak power and less than 2 per cent daily electrical energy consumption. More than 7.3% peak load from solar PV and backup power must start quickly, only to be forced off line soon thereafter. Grid gets destablized.
7.3% of an estimated 2020 60 GWe California peak load is 4.4 GWe. DWP generation is roughly 12% of CA total. Therefore, DWP solar PV can not be more than 528 MWe. This is less than the 600 MWe proposed under Measure B.
Apparently there is no technical information that indicates how this limitation can be avoided. Most of the arguments relative to Measure B are about who gets to paint the deck chairs on the Titanic. Lost is the concept that $3 billion will be wasted killing roofers.

[John]

I believe that as the mail-in ballots are counted, the results for Measure B and Measure E are going to look even worse for their supporters.

[Wendie]

Sarah. I completely agree. Tony Villar needs to go. what is so galling is that local press/media report that he cruises to victory. what they don't highlight nearly enough is that with approx 4 million people in this city, only a little over one hundred thousand voted for him. hardly a mandate...he is the most politically corrupt, morally reprehensible individual, ever.

[Dennis]

I think that solar thermal facilities in the desert can produce electricity at one third the cost of solar photovoltaics. They also follow the sun vertically for more efficiency, while rooftop installations are often flat and less inefficient. Desert sites are also less susceptible to overcast skies or June gloom. This should really be an engineering decision by power producers and utilities for consumers, and not a political decision.

[Lou Filliger]

If this means more windmills, then I oppose that. I love the desert, and consider windmills to be a very unsightly destruction of an otherwise pristeen landscape. Windmills are to the beautiful desert as off-shore oil rigs are to the beautiful coast. Let's find some other way of meeting our energy needs without destroying what's left of our natural heritage.

I've been meaning to start an action group against windmills but i seem to keep going around in circles on it for some reason.

[Wayne Pendrey]

Measure B is seriously a bad deal for the people of LA. The only people who benefit are the IBEW who is causing the cost of solar to become unreasonable.

This measure is purely a power grab by the unions. It hurts those who are doing solar installations now because no solar company belongs to the unions.

It is much like the big 3, Ford, GM, & Chrysler- they are going bankrupt because they are union controlled and have to compete against non-union shops: ie:Honda & Toyota

Union scale for wages simply makes solar no longer affordable with a reasonable return on investment.

I should know as I am a consultant for California Solar

[SolarBoy]

I design ans sell solar systems for a well-regarded, LA county solar contracting company. We install many systems in LADWP territory, therefore I want to remain anonymous so we don't get black listed by DWP. Measure B is a huge scam against the people of L.A. and the solar companies that serve them. It was introduced and paid for by the money and power-mad IBEW. They have been trying for several years now to take over all solar electric installation in CA. They had the gall to have there stooge Kevin Murray put a line in the original Solar Roofs Bill that disallowed solar contractors from installing solar systems. They only wanted electrical contractors doing it because they control them. Luckily, the Governor withdrew support and it failed. If measure B passes it means millions of dollars or solar will be installed by IBEW ONLY workers on LA city builings. IBEW workers are paid 50-100% more for their labor because of the control their union has. That means the solar systems will cost the tax payers of L.A. WAY more than the normal prices. AND... the IBEW does NOT know how to install solar!!! They have just recently been trying to train some of their people the basics... like DC electricity, roofing systems, how solar systems work and all the site-specific design considerations. The IBEW electricians only know about AC electricity, which is the last couple of feet in a solar system before it connects to the service panel. So, you will pay WAY more and get WAY less quality. AND DWP does NOT have even close to the trained or even untrained man-power to do all this work!!! But the IBEW is so incredibly greedy that they will shut out all the knowledgible and experience solar professionals from this work just so they make all the money. LA should and can and must go green, but not with this sick IBEW power-grab.