The Redondo Beach City Council on Tuesday night continued its fight against the construction of a new AES power plant by voting to amend the city code to prohibit the construction of large power plants. The council also agreed to form a citizens’ task force to figure out what to do next with the AES land.
The council voted 3-0 in favor of banning the construction of new power plants with capacity of 50 megawatts or more in the city. The action creates a new roadblock for AES as it seeks approval from the California Energy Commission to build a 496 megawatt power plant on its 50-acre site. (District 5 Councilwoman Emdee was absent and District 1 Councilman Jeff Ginsburg recused himself due to a conflict of interest). The ordinance will be adopted upon second reading at the next council meeting.
District 2 Councilman Bill Brand said the ordinance should hold sway over the energy commission and will invite new scrutiny as to whether the power plant is needed.
“The energy commission doesn’t like overriding local zoning or laws,” he said. “If they are going to have to override local laws or standards, then they say, ‘Oh do we really need this power plant?’ We’re creating that conflict with local laws so the energy commission will look to see if this power plant is really needed.”
Brand said he was confident the energy commission would find the power plant is not needed.
“SoCal Edison said they were not going to contract with AES in Redondo because that’s not where the power is needed,” he said.
The city previously enacted a temporary moratorium on new power plant construction in December 2013. It expires at the end of this year. The new zoning change will ensure that the spirit of the moratorium continues, Brand said. In addition to banning new power plant construction, the ordinance prohibits modifications to existing power plants that would result in a 50 megawatt or more increase in generating capacity.
AES submitted a letter to the council earlier on Tuesday asking that it not amend the code, citing a number of legal arguments, including that the ordinance is “an unlawful attempt to constrain California Energy Commission certification of power plants in the city.”
Mayor Steve Aspel said the ban was an important step for the city.
“We need to do this. This will help us on the path of getting rid of the power plant,” he said.
Later in the evening, the council voted 3-0 in favor of creating a 17-member, council-appointed task force to make recommendations on what to do next with the AES site.
The task force has been in the works since the failure of Measure B in March, which would have redeveloped the land into a mixed-use development. At the June 16 meeting, the council authorized as much as $157,500 to go towards creating the task force, which will meet at least once a month.
Each council member and the mayor will appoint two representatives. The remaining seats will be filled by representatives from Redondo Residents for Responsible Revitalization, Voices and a representative from Hermosa Beach, selected by the Hermosa city council. There is also a spot for AES, although AES Vice President Eric Pendergraft said in an interview he’s not sure if the company will accept its place on the task force because it could compromise its approval process with the energy commission.
“Our participation in the task force could be used against us by the city in the CEC proceedings,” Pendergraft said. “It’s difficult to be working with the city and coming up with an alternative exit [for the site], while at the same time we’re adversaries in another proceeding.”
Current or past elected officials will not be allowed to serve on the task force. Aspel will appoint the task force’s chair.
The stated goals for the task force include developing broad zoning and land use recommendations for the AES property, eliciting public feedback and producing reports and drawings of recommended uses. The task force will also be asked to set aside at least 20 percent of the land as public parkland, and make recommendations that would give the underlying land a value of between $150 million and $200 million.
Part of the idea would be to provide prospective buyers with clearly-defined, allowable uses for the land, Brand said.
“You talk to developers who would have the resources to buy the site. [They say] it’s a challenge to walk into a site where the zoning is not decided.”
The hope is that whatever recommendations come from the task force will be supported by a majority of voters in an election, Aspel said.
“The task force comes up with something that the people will vote for and that AES can accept, and we move on,” he said.
The task force will likely get started after the city hires a consultant in September.
