Tag Archives: los angeles
In Focus: Fighting Fracking
“Fighting fracking is unbelievable.” That understatement comes from Sharon Wilson, or TXSharon as she’s become known among the anti-fracking brigade. We got to know her when she decided to go solar through 1BOG, and we’ve been learning from her ever since. Sharon’s commitment to anti-fracking started slowly after fracking began to happen around her in [...]
Los Angeles to Go Coal Free
Los Angeles currently gets 39% of its electricity from coal, but that will end soon. In the coming weeks, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa announced he will sign agreements that will make the city coal-free. The coal comes from two outdated dirty plants, one in Utah, the other in Arizona. He will end the contract in Arizona by 2015 and [...]
We’d like to take a moment to introduce the newest member of the AMECO Solar team…our Chevy Volt! The bright and bold design — done by Iconography Studios over in Los Alamitos — highlights the fact that our brand new electric car is powered by solar energy. Each evening, we plug in the electric car [...]
Hollywood: So Ready For Solar
Los Angeles is known for its great year round weather – sunny and 73! Taking advantage of its ideal solar climate, LA will soon be known for being a real leader of the booming solar economy. On Feb. 1, the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power – made famous in the movie Chinatown but probably a bit more mundane of [...]
HUGE: Los Angeles Converting All Streetlights to LEDs
In the largest street lighting retrofit ever undertaken by a city, Los Angeles is in the process of converting its 210,000 street lights to energy efficient LEDs. Although the idea of switching the kind of lighting used may seem boring, street lights are responsible for 40% of cities’ energy bills, according to Pike Research, … and therefore, energy consumption. [...]
Feed-In Tariff Approved in Los Angeles
We’re thrilled to see that the LA Department of Water and Power (LADWP) is adopting a Feed-In Tariff (FIT) program. We’d like to congratulate all the folks who, after three years of hard work testifying and developing the research and policy, made this victory possible (looking at you, LABC, Environment California, Sierra Club, Global Green, [...]
In Focus: Los Angeles Solar Rebates and Tax Credits
Solar power in Los Angeles makes perfect sense: on average, the city is blessed with over 3,000 hours of sunshine every year. LA also offers solar rebates and other incentives to help encourage homeowners and businesses to invest in solar panels. The program is a little complicated, and LA rolled out revised solar rebates last [...]
BMW to Unleash Newest Electric Car @ LA Auto Show
There are reports that BMW could be set to unveil a new, sporty electric car at the upcoming 2012 Los Angeles Auto Show. According to writer Antony Ingram at GreenCarReports.com, the new vehicle is likely to be based on the BMW i3 electric city car. The BMW ‘i4′ would be a more “fashionable and sporty” [...]
SolarCity Gets 26 Los Angeles Schools to go Solar
A total of 26 schools in Los Angeles will go solar thanks to a new partnership with SolarCity. Under the partnership, SolarCity will install a total of 7.4-megawatts of solar power projects across 26 Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) schools. Already the majority, 17 arrays, have been installed. Already SolarCity has installed solar at [...]
The Great California Energy Crash
California, which imports over 25% of its electricity from out of state, is in no position to lose half (!) of its entire nuclear power capacity. But that’s exactly what happened earlier this year, when the San Onofre plant in north San Diego County unexpectedly went offline. The loss only worsens the broad energy deficit [...]
How Ecotality is Helping LA Go Electric
Los Angeles, due to its profound lack of public transportation, is a car culture. You absolutely need a car to get from here to there, and LA drivers are of the “been here, done that” school of driving, traffic patience and vehicle maintenance. However, it turns out LA drivers are also different in how they [...]
Los Angeles: The New EV Hub?
Along with winning the the E-Visionary Award from the World Electric Vehicle Association, Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa got some other related good news. Colorado-based Boulder Electric Vehicle decided to lease a building there to assemble its electric trucks. At full production, it’s expected to build 1000 vehicles a year and employ 150 people. “Face it, L.A., [...]