Just hours after AES Southland submitted its long anticipated plans for a new 12-acre power plant to the California Energy Commission (CEC), the Redondo Beach City Council officially ordered a zoning initiative measure placed on the March 5 ballot.
The ballot measure will give citizens a vote on potentially outlawing power generation at AES’s 50-acre waterfront property.
The council also voted to establish a subcommittee, which will include Mayor Mike Gin and council members Matt Kilroy and Steve Diels, to write the argument against the initiative for inclusion on the ballot. The city attorney was also directed to prepare an impartial analysis of the measure.
“The council should have some responsibility of informing the public, so that’s what the subcommittee will do,” said Diels. “It will be the language that ends up on the ballot with the arguments that would inform voters that the submission really is not going to accomplish what the proponents say it will.”
Per state law, initiative proponents Building a Better Redondo and NoPowerPlant.com will be writing the argument for the ballot measure.
“It will be a team effort between me, Jim Light and NoPowerPlant.com,” said councilmember Bill Brand.
The citizen-led initiative petition was filed on September 12 after an almost six week campaign to collect at least 15 percent of Redondo Beach’s registered voters’ signatures. The required 5,974 signatures was far exceeded, as the groups collected 7,468 signatures. After receiving litigation threats from BBR, NoPowerPlant.com and AES, council members directed the city clerk prepare a resolution to put on the next municipal election that would phase-out existing power generation from the AES site and set new land use and development standards.
On Tuesday, the language of the ballot was also approved to say, “Shall Redondo Beach phase-out existing power generation and power transmission for an approximately 50-acre site and set new land use and development standards by amending the general plan, coastal land us plan, harbor/civic center specific plan, coastal zoning, zoning and city charter; the new land use would be allocated between 60-70 percent to parks and open space and the remaining 30-40 percent allocated between commercial, institutional or marine related light industrial/boatyard uses? Yes or no.”
At a council meeting in early November, AES Southland President Eric Pendergraft retracted his earlier threat of a lawsuit, telling the council, “We are tremendously confident in democratic process. We think when people understand the facts they will make the best decision for Redondo Beach and will defeat this overwhelmingly, but we support your decision to put it on the March ballot and put this distraction behind us all and move on with responsibly planning for our future.”
AES is still moving forward with plans to rebuild and repower. The company’s submission to the CEC, a comprehensive review that describes the 12-acre project, is the first step in a year and a half process that could potentially allow AES to repower and modernize its plant. The CEC also has the authority to deem power generation at the site unnecessary, a judgment that would thus require AES to move in a non-power generating direction.
NoPowerPlant.com and BBR hope that the ballot measure, if successful, will factor into the CEC’s decision-making process by sending a message that the community does not want a power plant on its waterfront.
Current AES plans available on the CEC website include specs for a modern natural gas power plant with the capacity to generate 496 Megawatts of power. AES plans on building a single plant with three stacks with an air-cooled condenser. Plans include keeping the iconic Wyland wall and enclosing the plant on three sides.
“It’s completely consistent with what we’ve been telling you,” said AES Project Director Jennifer Didlo. “The wall will help keep it more consistent with the community and help balance the property.”
A new plan to keep the current power plant standing while a new plant is constructed in order to help “screen the construction noise” is also suggested in the submission.
“Once we have it up and online we’ll start the lion’s share of demolition of the existing structures,” said Didlo.
AES anticipates having the new plant online the first quarter of 2019 and the old power plant demolished by the end of 2020. There are as yet no plans for the potentially empty 38 acres.
“We would have to go through the same process the city is going through to develop the harbor. I imagine that would be the most likely process for the 38 acres, but that’s many years out,” said Didlo. ER
