LOS ANGELES (AP) — The Los Angeles Department of Water and Power is taking steps to wean its dependence on coal by the middle of next decade.
The city utility currently gets 40 percent of its energy from coal-fired plants in Utah and Arizona. On Tuesday, the utility voted to amend its contract with Utah-based Intermountain Power Project to use its natural gas plant instead. The move still needs approval from City Council.
Officials say another agreement in the works to sell off LADWP's stake in the Arizona plant will make the utility coal-free by 2025. That's five years later than a promise by Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, who in 2009 predicted a coal-free Los Angeles in 2020.
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