The City of West Hollywood has been designated by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) as a Green Power Community. Currently, the City of West Hollywood community meets 65% of its 100% renewable energy use through voluntary green power that goes above-and-beyond the State of California’s Renewable Portfolio Standards, and this portion is reported to EPA’s Green Power Partnership program. By implementing this EPA program, the City of West Hollywood is continuing to lead in transitioning to a clean-energy future.
The State of California has established goals for communities across the state to move toward 100% clean energy. By moving the needle in the voluntary Green Power market, the City of West Hollywood and other Green Power partners are helping to reduce the negative health impacts of air emissions including those related to ozone, fine particles, acid rain, and regional haze.
According to the EPA, the City of West Hollywood’s community-wide Green Power use is equivalent to the electricity use of more than 14,000 average American homes annually and its municipal operations Green Power use is equivalent to the electricity use of nearly 300 average American homes annually.
The City of West Hollywood joined the Clean Power Alliance (CPA) in September 2017 and in February 2019 Clean Power Alliance became the new electricity provider for the West Hollywood community. As part of the City’s commitment to protecting the environment and building resiliency, the City Council of the City of West Hollywood selected 100% Green Power, which provides 100% renewable energy, as the default option for the community. CPA’s Green Power content is sourced from approximately 48% solar energy and 52% wind energy. Currently, 25,684 West Hollywood electricity customers are receiving 100% Green Power through the CPA. Collectively, West Hollywood residents, businesses, and municipal operations use nearly 153 million kilowatt-hours (kWh) of Green Power annually.
By choosing Green Power, the City of West Hollywood helps to advance the voluntary market for renewable energy and development of those sources. Clean Power Alliance is a public agency made up of 32 communities across Los Angeles and Ventura counties, including the City of West Hollywood, working together to bring clean, renewable power choices to Southern California.
The City of West Hollywood is dedicated to sustainability and preserving our environment. One of the City of West Hollywood’s core values is Respect for the Environment and the City has a strong record of developing and instituting progressive and forward-thinking environmental policies.
In 2011, the City released its Climate Action Plan, which is designed to address climate change and reduce the community’s greenhouse gas emissions at the local level. Although climate change is a global problem, the City recognizes that many strategies to adapt to a changing climate are best enacted at the local level. The City’s Climate Action Plan outlines a series of actions that West Hollywood is taking to reduce its contributions to global climate change by reducing greenhouse gas emissions. In December 2021, the City approved an update to this, the Climate Action and Adaptation Plan, reporting that West Hollywood has surpassed the greenhouse gas reduction targets within its 2011 Climate Action Plan and is now working towards carbon neutrality by 2035.
The City’s sustainability achievements are made possible by various programs and planning efforts undertaken, including the City’s Green Building Program promoting “high-achieving” green building projects in private developments, the Pedestrian and Bicycle Mobility Plan outlining strategies to improve the City’s streetscape, the Urban Forest Management Plan outlining goals to enhance the city’s urban forest over the next 20 years, and the City’s move to 100% Green Power through the Clean Power Alliance. Details about WeHo Climate Action are available at www.weho.org/climateaction and details about Clean Power Alliance are available at www.weho.org/cleanpoweralliance.
The EPA’s Green Power Partnership is a voluntary program that helps increase Green Power use among U.S. organizations to advance the American market for renewable energy and development of those sources as a way to reduce air pollution and other environmental impacts associated with electricity use. In 2021, the Green Power Partnership had more than 700 Partners voluntarily using more than 85 billion kilowatt-hours of green power annually. Partners include a wide variety of leading organizations such as Fortune 500® companies; small and medium sized businesses; local, state, and federal governments; and colleges and universities. For additional information, please visit www.epa.gov/greenpower and for more information about Green Power Communities, please visit www.epa.gov/greenpower/green-power-communities-list.
For more information, please contact Christine Shen, the City of West Hollywood’s Senior Planner, at (323) 848-6803 or [email protected]. For people For people who are Deaf or hard of hearing, please call TTY (323) 848-6496.
And the lights in the library blaze on all night with nobody in there….
Green Power, Ok
But we didn’t get composting till this year, and who’s actually composting yet?
Lots of gas leaf blowers even though banned for 3 decades
Lots of restaurants still using styrofoam even though banned for 3 decades
Lots of people burning fire wood in the winter, unfortunately no laws against that
80% of Residents are renters, so I don’t think EV adoption is that high either, my building has 100 spots and no EV chargers
Don’t see much solar panels either
Great…and if the big populations of India and China continue to do nothing, what we do is like adding a drop of water to the ocean, makes no difference. Except virtue signal.
China and India aren’t doing nothing. It seems the US is one of the worst hypocrites on reducing emissions and transitioning because we have one party of deniers and both parties of corporate interests.
Lovely, now exactly what provisions are in place for the protection of our environment consisting of old and mature trees providing canopy useful to humans and habitat for birds and animals? Every project in the Planning & Development notes a loss of innumerable trees. Last night the discussion of the potential Wetherly Drive project noted removal of 7 mature trees with only suggestions of replacements with saplings and boxed ornamented plants. This is woefully insufficient. *Please make friends with David Attenborough and you can receive devastating statistics through entertainment mode under the shade of your soon to disappear tree in… Read more »
We’ve been trying to get public mature canopy trees illegally removed to be replaced at Mediterranean Village apartments on Larrabee for 2 years. The city talks about it a little every few months when residents complain. Still waiting…
Would suggest writing a letter to the Community Development Department Director, City Council and copy Scott Smith Urban Landscape Maintenance for a start and stay on it.