Clean Energy Is Coming. How Much More Should Los Angeles Ratepayers Pay to Get There Faster?

CLEAN ENERGY - Los Angeles has committed to an ambitious goal known as LA100: moving the city's electric system to 100 percent clean energy by 2035.

California is already moving in the same direction. State law calls for 90 percent clean electricity by 2035 and 100 percent by 2045.

That raises a simple question for Los Angeles ratepayers:

How much more will we pay to get to 100 percent faster, and what will we receive in return?

Most people don't spend their time studying energy policy. But they know what their electric bill says. And at a time when families are struggling with the cost of housing, food, insurance and almost everything else, affordability matters.

We Are Already Going Clean

This is not a choice between clean energy and doing nothing.

California is already one of the nation's leaders in clean energy. In 2024, 67 percent of the state's retail electricity sales came from renewable and zero-carbon resources.

Los Angeles is well along that path too. LADWP reports that 59 percent of its 2024 power mix came from carbon-free resources.

The transition is already happening and will continue.

The question is whether Los Angeles ratepayers should bear the additional cost of reaching 100 percent clean energy in 2035 rather than following California's timetable.

What Will Getting There Faster Cost Us?

This is where Los Angeles ratepayers deserve clearer answers.

Reaching 100 percent clean energy sooner requires Los Angeles to accelerate major investments in its power system. Some investments would be needed regardless of the timetable, which makes it especially important for City Hall and LADWP to clearly identify the additional cost of acceleration.

That matters because Californians already pay some of the highest electricity prices in the country. In July 2026, California's average residential electricity price was 33.61 cents per kilowatt-hour, compared with 18.31 cents nationally.

Affordability isn't a future problem. It is already here.

And higher electric bills don't affect everyone equally.

For a household with a comfortable income, another increase may be manageable. But for a great many Angelenos, including seniors on fixed incomes, low- and middle-income families, and people living paycheck to paycheck, higher electric bills can mean cutting somewhere else.

Small businesses feel it too. Restaurants, neighborhood markets, laundromats and other businesses eventually have to absorb higher costs or pass them along to customers.

Los Angeles is already an expensive place to live and do business. Electricity is only one part of that problem, but every additional cost adds to the burden.

What Are We Getting for the Extra Money?

This is the question City Hall needs to answer in plain English.

What additional environmental benefits will Los Angeles receive by reaching 100 percent clean energy in 2035 instead of 2045?

What will accelerating that timetable cost a typical family? A senior on a fixed income? A low-income household? A small business?

And are the additional benefits worth the additional cost?

These are not arguments against clean energy. California's transition is already underway. Renewable generation, energy storage and other technologies will continue to develop as the state moves toward its 2045 requirement.

The issue is not the destination.

It is the pace and the price.

City Hall Needs to Answer

LADWP did not independently decide that Los Angeles should reach 100 percent clean energy by 2035. The accelerated goal was established under the direction of the Mayor and City Council. LADWP's job is to plan and operate the power system needed to achieve it.

City leaders understandably want Los Angeles to be a clean-energy leader. But leadership also means considering what people can afford.

If reaching 100 percent ten years earlier places a significantly greater burden on ratepayers, City leaders should clearly explain what that additional cost will be and why the benefits justify it.

And if those costs become too great, the timetable itself should be open to reconsideration.

The question isn't whether Los Angeles should move toward clean energy.

We already are.

The question is whether getting to 100 percent faster is worth what ratepayers will be asked to pay.

That is a question every Los Angeles ratepayer deserves to have answered.

(Jack Feldman is a retired senior manager at LADWP, a DWP ratepayer, and a contributor to CityWatchLA.com.)