Dear Mayor, LA City Council and
DWP Board of Commissioners,

We have better options for powering our city than out-of-state, dirty coal plants. Clean, renewable energy is possible, generated right in our neighborhoods. Through the CLEAN LA Solar Program, businesses and homeowners can get paid back for the energy they produce from their rooftop solar panels. This policy is known as a feed-in-tariff (FiT), and is one of the best mechanisms to help cities switch to clean, solar energy.

A broad coalition of businesses, environmental groups, public health groups, and community organizations are calling for the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (LADWP) to adopt the CLEAN LA Solar Program. According to research conducted by the Los Angeles Business Council, in partnership with UCLA, USC and energy experts, the economic benefit of the CLEAN LA Solar Program will be tremendous. The impact will include an estimated 16,000 jobs between now and 2020 and $2 billion in private investment across the city.

California has set a goal of generating 33% of its energy from renewable sources by 2020. Unfortunately, the LADWP has one of the weakest solar track records among major California utilities, generating only 1/6 as much solar power per customer as the leading utility in the state.

The CLEAN LA Solar Program can help change that, and bring clean, affordable solar power to our city. Please support a 75 MW solar FiT program beginning in 2012, with completion by the end of 2014, and fulfill the Mayor's vision of 150 MW of solar FiT by 2020.

A private-sector FiT program is critical to leverage private investment in solar power, generate plentiful jobs, and achieve sustainable energy goals established by state law. I support LA’s bright solar future.