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By Wendilyn Grasseschi
Mammoth Times Staff Writer
 Times file photo David Freeman, interim GM of LADWP, has been visiting the Eastern Sierra with a solar project. It was only a few years ago that David Freeman, then general manager for the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power, came to the Eastern Sierra with a bold proposal – to preserve most of the agency’s thousands of acres of land here forever in the form of a conservation easement.
The 500 or so Eastern Sierra residents that showed up for a meeting with Freeman in Bishop in 2001 were alternately delighted or infuriated with the idea, depending on their perspective.
Los Angeles politicians and DWP itself had similarly conflicting responses and in short order, the idea quietly went away.
The ongoing tussles and quiet cooperation between locals and Los Angeles that characterize the region’s complicated relationship with the DWP resumed, and things calmed down.
Now the flamboyant Freeman is back, acting as both the new interim general manager for DWP (following the resignation of former manager David Nahai last year) and as the city of Los Angeles’ deputy mayor of the environment, a position he was appointed to last year.
A triple hitter
He’s also back with another bold proposal – this time to put a large solar power array on the Owens Dry Lake in the next few years, in an attempt to generate renewable energy, control the lake’s toxic dust storms and save water all at the same time.
He’s hoping this time things will work out a bit better for both the Eastern Sierra and the city he represents.
“It’s a triple hitter,” he said. “We will save water by not having to use so much of it to control dust, we will cut down on the wind that creates the dust storms with the solar panels and we will generate renewable energy at the same time. “
He hopes the project will eventually generate as much as 5 gigawatts of electricity a year, approximately 10 percent of the state’s total energy needs. But this is not a quick fix. Freeman knows once construction begins, it could take 10 years or more to achieve that level of production.
The project would make a significant contribution toward DWP’s stated goal of getting 40 percent of its power from renewable sources by 2020, as well.
It’s a completely unique proposal for a unique problem, he said. Solar power has been generated before, of course, but no one in the world that he or his engineers know of have also tried to control dust and save water at the same time as generating solar power.
So Freeman’s been talking to Eastern Sierra residents and agencies about his idea for several months now. He said he’s pleased with the local response so far.
“I don’t know of any time in our 80-year history here that there has been so much common interest,” he said.
“We are in a death struggle with climate change and Mother Nature has a time frame and we don’t know what it is,” he said. “This is part of the great transformation going on in the world.
Local support? Sort of
Freeman’s gotten the support of local Chambers of Commerce, the Audubon Society, and has talked at length to federal land managers that might be impacted by the project, he said.
Just recently, he got the go-ahead from the State Lands Commission, as well as an informal green light from the Great Basin Unified Air Pollution Control District (GBUAPCD) – but only after DWP scaled down an original proposal from 616 acres to the 80 acres it is now pursuing as a pilot project.
He’s also gotten the support of Senator Dianne Feinstein, who is currently pushing for a bill that would extend the renewable energy component of the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act.
Freeman hopes that the project, which will not be ready by the time the stimulus money is scheduled to be pulled this year, might qualify for some federal money. If it did, the Feds would pay about 30 percent of the many million-dollar project (no final amount is available yet), something Freeman says will save DWP customers money.
But all of this does not mean the Eastern Sierra is ready to wholeheartedly support the project right now, nor to give up its wariness of the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power.
That’s something that is going to take a lot more effort, if not time, for locals who have been burned too many times by the agency. Even those who support the agency’s proposal in theory say only time will tell if this is a good idea or just another way to take Eastern Sierra resources – this time sunlight – away from the region without giving anything back of value.
“Wait and see” mode
“We are in a wait and see mode,” said Ted Schade, air pollution control officer for the GBUAPCD. “We definitely approve of the idea of starting off with the 80-acre site instead of the 616-acre idea, until we see how the dust control aspect goes, but there are a lot of unanswered questions out there yet about how it would work.”
Mono County supervisor Byng Hunt was equally measured in his response.
“It’s too soon to tell about the impacts to our area,” he said. “But I do think the idea is worth pursuing.”
“We do agree with the idea in concept,” said Eastern Sierra Land Trust Executive Director Karen Ferrell-Ingram. “The idea of renewable energy and saving water is something we support. But there are also a lot of limits, a lot of DWP lands that are not suitable, wetlands, agricultural lands, wildlife habitat. And the aesthetics are something to be aware of, too.”
She’s also concerned that if other solar companies begin to realize the incredible solar resources on DWP and other Eastern Sierra lands, there might be a “solar speculation” land rush in the area.
“If that happened, would other utilities be as responsible as DWP?” she asked.
There is also the question of what’s in it for the Eastern Sierra. Freeman has proposed a state park on the lake as the returning water for the dust control efforts increases bird and wildlife populations there, something that could draw visitors.
But he also said the electricity generated would not necessarily go specifically to meet local needs. Rather it would become part of the agency’s overall power generation, and be sold on the open market, meaning there is no guarantee that the project would lower local power rates.
But Ferrell-Ingram also holds out hope that there could be something of a trade in the project, if it goes forward.
“I’d like to see assurances that the rest of the DWP land cannot be developed,” she said. “I know Freeman supports this idea, but he won’t be with the DWP forever.”
That might just happen if he has anything to say about it, Freeman said.
There will be a public meeting to discuss the proposed solar project on the Owens Lake area 7 p.m., Monday Jan 11, First Methodist Church, Bishop Calif. |
