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Climate & Environment

LA Just Set Aside $30 Million For Solar Panels

Workers installing a solar panel on a roof.
L.A. plans to run entirely on renewable energy by 2035.
(
Justin Sullivan
/
Getty Images
)

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The city of L.A. wants its entire electricity grid to run on renewable energy by 2035, so it's setting aside $30 million to install solar power in municipal buildings.

L.A.'s Chief Sustainability Officer, Lauren Faber O'Connor, says the Bureau of Engineering and other local government experts will assess where the solar panels should be located.

"Where's our biggest opportunity for cost savings?" O'Connor told LAist in an interview. "And how does that align with what kinds of services those buildings provide in the city? And where are those buildings located? So we want to be able to stretch our dollars and make those investments go as far as they can."

The chosen facilities will run on both solar energy and electricity from the city grid. Both sources will be optimized so that additional stress isn't placed on L.A.'s infrastructure during heat storms or other extreme weather.

City buildings currently get around six megawatts of electricity from solar power. The new program is expected to double that amount.

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