2019 Green Job Creation Goal in L.A. Hit A Full Year Ahead of Schedule
Los Angeles adds historic EV infrastructure expansion, has the most in the country
L.A. opens new solar power facility that is providing power to more than 250,000 homes with cheaper and cleaner energy
LOS ANGELES — Mayor Karen Bass this morning will be joined by environmental leaders in Downtown Los Angeles to announce more green jobs, historic electric vehicle infrastructure expansion and improved alternative water access this year in her efforts to build a greener Los Angeles. Highlights include:
The City of L.A. reached its goal set in 2019 of creating more than 100,000 green jobs by the end of 2025 more than one year early.
Los Angeles has the most EV charging stations in the country. Nearly 16,000 EV chargers have been installed over the past two years, a 77% increase in the city’s available charging infrastructure since Mayor Bass took office.
250,000 homes in Los Angeles are now powered by clean energy through the Eland Solar & Storage Center, a large-scale solar installation and battery storage system that opened this year.
This week and next, in the run up to her second anniversary in office on December 12, Mayor Bass is crisscrossing the city to highlight how her administration has made change and delivered results to reduce homelessness and homicides, create jobs, support businesses, combat climate change, and better deliver city services.
“We have worked urgently to build a greener Los Angeles to make a healthier and more sustainable city,” said Mayor Bass. “Our work has led to significant increases in EV charging infrastructure, record amounts of storm water captured, and reducing emissions throughout the city with the goal of hitting 100% clean energy by 2035. Together, in partnership with all levels of government, we will continue to create a cleaner, healthier and more sustainable city for Angelenos.”
“Your Los Angeles Department of Water and Power is proud to join Mayor Bass and the City Council to secure a clean energy future and reliable water supply for Los Angeles for the years to come,” said Janisse Quiñones, LADWP CEO and Chief Engineer. “We are making significant investments in infrastructure and programs to ensure our city continues to weather the impacts of climate change and maintain access to critical life services of water and power. We are here to show the world how Los Angeles is a model of innovation and sustainability in the United States and the world.”
"We are excited to continue seeing Mayor Karen Bass’ leadership in expanding a reliable EV charging infrastructure that will help drive cleaner air through transportation electrification, and good paying EV charging station maintenance jobs." - Kameale C. Terry, CEO, ChargerHelp
"Driving forward the clean energy transition in a City as diverse and complex as Los Angeles is no small task, and Mayor Bass and her team are tackling this challenge head on, answering the call to prove what is possible in advance of the 2028 Olympics,” said Ben Stapleton, Executive Director of the United States Green Building Council - California (USGBC-CA). “As we move to host Greenbuild in LA in 2025, we look forward to deepening our collective work to decarbonize our buildings and construction materials through increased education and training for all."
“Purifying wastewater is one of the best ways we can make the City of LA water resilient in the face of climate change; the Donald C. Tillman Groundwater Replenishment Project will provide a critical source of drought-proof local water and is an important step in the City’s Pure Water LA program to maximize our recycled water production and meet our local water supply goals,” said Bruce Reznik, Executive Director, LA Waterkeeper.
Building a Green Economy and Bolstering Workforce Development:
The City of L.A. reached its goal set in 2019 of creating more than 100,000 green jobs by the end of 2025 more than one year early.
Since the start of the Mayor’s administration, the City has supported businesses and their efforts to be more sustainable through the Green Business Program. From February 2023 to July 2024, the City has certified or recertified more than 250 businesses of all sizes.
Progress continues on cleaning up contaminated brownfield sites for public use. This includes implementing a California Department of Toxic Substances Control (DTSC) Equitable Community Revitalization Grant for $6.8 million to remediate a 7-acre City-owned brownfield site in Southeast Los Angeles that will be redeveloped into a mixed-use affordable housing facility and park. Clean up also began this year on a $500,000 EPA Grant for a park along the Los Angeles River, to transform the former Taylor Railyard into a park.
Partnering with the City’s Economic and Workforce Development Department, the Coalition for Responsible Community Development’s South LA All In “Good Jobs, Healthy Communities” secured $20 million from U.S. EPA’s Community Change Grant Program. The initiative will connect training with providers, employers, and agencies to expand clean energy jobs. The project addresses lead contamination and climate resilience by training residents in lead abatement, welding, EV maintenance, and weatherization, creating pathways to sustainable careers.
Historic Momentum Creating Clean and Resilient Electrical Infrastructure:
Nearly 16,000 EV chargers have been installed over the past two years, representing a 77% increase in the city’s available charging infrastructure since Mayor Bass assumed office.
The Bureau of Street Lighting, alongside LA County and LA Metro, and Los Angeles World Airports each secured a $15 million Charging and Fueling Infrastructure (CFI) grant from the Federal Highway Administration to build out EV charging in Los Angeles and maintain the City and region as the charging capital of the country. The grants will see BSL install 1,000 publicly available curbside Level 2 EV chargers, and LAWA will help deploy one of the largest DC fast charging hubs at an airport in the country.
Over 400 zero emission heavy duty trucks have been added to the Ports Drayage Truck Registry, significantly moving forward the joint Ports’ Clean Air Action Plan goal of all trucks serving the Ports being zero emission by 2035.
The Eland Solar & Storage Center, a large-scale solar installation and battery storage system serving LADWP began commercial operations in November 2024. Located near LADWP’s Barren Ridge Switching station, Eland will supply power to more than 250,000 homes and contribute 7% to the City’s energy portfolio. Once fully operational, it will help push the city's clean energy share above 60% by 2025, accelerating the transition to sustainable energy.
LADWP secured $8 million in grant funding from the U.S. Department of Energy to strengthen zero emission hydroelectric infrastructure, improve grid resilience, and promote equitable access to clean energy. LADWP will use the grant at two power plants to improve and ensure the reliable operation of three vertical reaction turbine generators originally placed in service almost 100 years ago.
Implementing Innovative and Sustainable Strategies For a Secure Water Future in L.A.:
During the Mayor's second year in office, the City approved the “Donald C. Tillman Groundwater Replenishment Project” in the San Fernando Valley community of Van Nuys, home to one of the largest potable reuse projects in the country. The project broke ground December 2, providing benefits to all of Los Angeles by establishing a new, resilient and sustainable drought-proof supply of water for more than 250,000 Angelenos. Since Mayor Bass took office, LADWP has been awarded a total of $60 million in grant funding from the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation’s Large Scale Water Recycling Program. This year, the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California also approved an agreement with the City of Los Angeles to reimburse up to $139 million over 15 years of water production at this facility through its Local Resource Program.
The Hyperion Advanced Water Purification Facility (HAWPF) will launch in December, and will use advanced treatment technology to treat wastewater to produce high-quality recycled water. This water will offset up to 1.5 million gallons per day of potable use at LAX, and within Hyperion Water Reclamation Plant. The HAWPF will also serve as the proof of concept for the City's Pure Water Los Angeles Program at Hyperion.
The City reached its water conservation goal more than a year ahead of schedule. As of September 2024, the City’s water demand hit 103 gallons per capita per day, down from the 133 gallons per capita per day benchmark set in 2014.
In response to the Better Watts Initiative (BWI) Study regarding lead in drinking water released in August 2024, the City has conducted over 1,600 in-unit water quality testing for Housing Authority of the City Los Angeles (HACLA) facilities in the Watts area in coordination with Council District 15 (CD15), HACLA, BWI, and LADWP. The City is embarking on a multi-month outreach effort in coordination with CD15 and BWI to conduct water quality testing in the Watts community at-large.
Historic Rain Water Captured Due to Improved Infrastructure: Los Angeles has captured a total of 82 billion gallons of rain water since Mayor Bass took office, amounting to 63 billion gallons more than the previous 2 years. Captured stormwater is used to recharge the San Fernando Groundwater Basin, a major source of local water supply for the City.
More than $1 Billion in Funding Secured to Improve the Port of Los Angeles:
The Port of Los Angeles was awarded an unprecedented $412 million grant from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (US EPA)’s Clean Ports Program to support the zero-emission (ZE) transition at the nation’s busiest trade gateway. In support of its goal to achieve 100% zero-emission terminal operations by 2030, this funding will enable the Port to purchase zero-emission yard tractors, drayage trucks, top handlers, heavy forklifts, battery electric storage systems, chargers, and more. The grant will also set a new standard for environmental stewardship in the maritime industry by directly funding an innovative, community-led $50 million ZE grant program in partnership with the Harbor Community Benefits Foundation, prioritizing investments that benefit frontline, disadvantaged areas.
The Mayor’s Office of Environment and Sustainability played a key role in securing $500 million for the region from the US EPA’s Climate Pollution Reduction Grant (CPRG) to reduce pollution from goods movement.
California’s Alliance for Renewable Clean Hydrogen Energy Systems (ARCHES) that the City of LA is participating in, won a $1.2 billion award from the US Department of Energy (US DOE) to create a green hydrogen hub. The Port of Los Angeles and LADWP will receive approximately $150 million for projects that advance green hydrogen infrastructure.
Protecting Angelenos from Extreme Heat:
To protect vulnerable Angelenos from the increasing number of days with extreme heat, additional augmented cooling centers were opened in neighborhoods with high heat risk such as South LA. As a result, the number of people utilizing the augmented cooling centers more than doubled from 2022.
LADWP has been providing rebates on air conditioning units and energy efficiency to manage the impacts of extreme heat to older adults, low income families, and those living in underserved communities where hot weather has an especially significant impact.
Since 2023, LADWP has provided $143,613,852 in rebates and direct installs of ACs and energy efficiency resources. In addition, LADWP has conducted 6 community giveaway events where 2,175 portable cooling units have been distributed to low-income seniors in East L.A., the Valley and South L.A.
A total of 735 ACs were purchased for HACLA units and will be provided to low-income families free of charge.
Bolstering Nature Based Solutions to Improve Angelenos’ Quality of Life:
Since Mayor Bass took office, she continues to promote Nature Based Solutions to assist in keeping LA cooler and healthier. For the City’s celebration of Earth Day, the Mayor participated in planting native plants at Griffith Park.
HACLA received $11 million from the U.S. Department of Interior to support the development of Jordan Downs Central Park. The money will provide a flexible lawn meadow that will double as a soccer/futsal field, two basketball courts, walking paths, lighting, seating options, native landscaping, an accessible community pool and more.
Building Strong Ties with All Levels of Government to Confront Climate Change:
As part of Mayor Bass’ 2024 State of the City, the Mayor kicked off her Climate Cabinet that serves as the coordinating body for tracking the City's progress on various climate initiatives and goals. The Climate Cabinet is composed of leaders from 15 key departments and 10 technical working groups critical to updating and achieving our climate and sustainability goals.
The Mayor’s Office of Energy & Sustainability secured an agreement between the California Department of Toxic Substances Control and the City’s Housing Department to accelerate the residential clean-up stemming from the Exide lead contamination.
The City of Los Angeles committed to using low carbon concrete and other pilots in August 2024. This commitment was acknowledged by the White House and was mentioned in their Low Carbon Concrete Fact Sheet.
The Mayor’s Office worked with FIFA to develop the Los Angeles World Cup 2026 Environmental Plan as part of the Los Angeles World Cup Host Committee. The plan reflects ambitious low-carbon transportation and waste goals that will ensure the World Cup is sustainable for the Los Angeles region.
As a member of the LA28 Sustainability Working Group, the Mayor’s Office of Energy and Sustainability is helping to develop the LA28 Impact & Sustainability Report; LADWP convened the 2028 Games Energy Council (GEC) which includes all major utility providers from the Games and is responsible for the Games’ energy planning and delivery.
Reducing Emissions through Composting: More than 775,000 homes and businesses now have access to food scrap recycling using their curbside green bins. The City is encouraging participation with help from the State of California, which awarded $14.9 million in outreach grant funding to LA Sanitation and assigned six California Climate Action Corps Fellows to educate our neighbors and distribute kitchen countertop pails. LA Sanitation and the Corps Fellows have distributed nearly 200,000 pails to date, which helped Angelenos compost 523,000 tons of organic waste last year.
Expanding Capacity With New Leadership at DWP: Mayor Bass recommended Janisse Quiñones, PE to serve as the new CEO and General Manager/Chief Engineer of the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (LADWP) and lead the department through the transition toward 100% clean energy by 2035. Quiñones was approved unanimously by the City Council in May, becoming the second woman and first Latina to serve in this role. She brings more than 25 years of leadership experience as a senior executive in utility and engineering industries where she managed large-scale operations in order to deliver reliable service to customers, prioritized the safety of workers on the job and directed improvements that made electrical infrastructure more resilient.
Locking Arms Internationally to Build a Greener Los Angeles:
Mayor Bass signed a historic Letter of Intent (LOI) with the Minister for Foreign Trade and Development of Finland Ville Tavio that will promote climate cooperation and economic development between the City of Los Angeles and the Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland for the first time in history. The agreement is the result of more than two years of collaboration on shared goals for carbon neutrality and the clean energy transition and will further propel Los Angeles to achieve 100% clean energy by 2035.
While traveling to Paris to learn how the City prepared for and executed a successful and sustainable Games, Mayor Bass signed two partnership agreements with Mayors of cities outside of Paris, with a focus on sustainability:
Mayor Bass signed a partnership agreement with the City of Saint-Ouen-Sur-Seine, France to collaborate on youth, sustainability, sports, and culture ahead of the 2028 Games.
Mayor Bass signed a partnership agreement with the City of Saint-Denis, France to collaborate on sustainability, youth, arts & culture, sports, and social cohesion ahead of the 2028 Games.
Mayor Bass, alongside LADWP leadership, renewed a Memorandum of Understanding with Berlin to promote renewable energy and electrical infrastructure.
Deputy Mayor of Energy and Sustainability Nancy Sutley led a delegation to Shanghai to promote the Los Angeles Green Shipping Corridor between Los Angeles and Shanghai.
Deputy Mayor Nancy Sutley represented Los Angeles at the U20 Conference that brings together cities from G20 countries, representing the world’s largest economies, to inform and influence the discussions of national leaders at this year’s G20. At this year’s summit, the participants focused on advancing sustainability and developed the U20 Communiqué that was handed to the G20 Presidency highlighting local municipalities’ leadership in advancing public policy. Deputy Mayor Sutley spoke about the importance of youth participation for climate action.