Lessons learned from Los Angeles’s just energy transition initiative

Abstract

The City of Los Angeles (LA) has committed to reaching a 100% renewable, equitable electricity grid by the year 2035, and in 2021 the city released the LA100 study¹, which established the feasibility of local grid decarbonization pathways. This study emphasized that only explicitly justice-oriented strategies² would ensure equity outcomes. As a result, LA100 was followed by the LA100 Equity Strategies effort, a two-year partnership between the city’s electric utility — the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (LADWP) — researchers at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory and the University of California, Los Angeles, and local community-based organizations (CBOs). Having concluded this effort in late 2023³, we are now taking stock of what others can learn from it, and believe that five key insights may be helpful for other cities working on a just transition (Table 1).

Table 1 Lessons learned from the LA100 Equity Strategies effort

Full size table

First, the LA100 Equity Strategies effort was designed around energy justice principles^4,5, facilitating an engaged process and building a foundation to make the case for change in the utility. This process began with assessing current and historic inequity in LA, emphasizing the ongoing impacts of redlining, decades of disinvestment in communities of colour, and a lack of affordable housing. Further, statistical analysis of LADWP energy incentives revealed that, other than specifically low-income targeted programmes, disadvantaged communities have historically received disproportionately fewer utility investments in green technologies and home energy efficiency improvements. These findings provided the empirical evidence to spur action where past efforts have failed.