LADWP DS 104 Task Force Meeting
Wednesday 9/26/2012
Report by Jim Rea, Task Force Member
The DWP Taskforce for selection of a location of Distribution Station 104 met Wednesday, September 19th at 7:00 at the Palisades Luthern Church. The meeting was closed to the public and only Taskforce members, LADWP staff, CD-11 staff and school district staff were allowed to attend.
Summaries of Taskforce discussions along with meeting materials will be posted on a website and made available to the public. I will provide the address to the website when it is made available.
Meeting opened with Norman Kulla making the announcement that the sole purpose of the taskforce was to identity a location for the new distribution station. DWP General Manager Ron Nichols then emphasized that no amout of alternative energy, reduction of consumption or any other mitigating measures would eliminate the need for the distribution station, so our only task was to find a location that the taskforce could recommend.
Gil Dembo asked if they had considered the PPCC’s proposed resolution asking for funds to underwrite an analyst to evaluate the data. Nichols said they had no intention of doing so. Joyce Brunelle asked why, given the millions of dollars at stake in this project the DWP couldn’t spend 10 to 20 thousand dollars for an analyst. Nichol’s response was that any study costing 10 to 20 thousand wouldn’t be worth the paper it is written on, that half a million would hardly scratch the surface of the necessary analysis.
Nichols said repeatedly that he considered the Taskforce to be additional staff in the evaluation of the alternatives and recommendation of the location.
It was made clear that the DWP has considered several sites (not just the two contested sites) and that we will be able to see the evaluation of each of those sites.
The facilitator went over the process that the Taskforce will follow:
Present Site Selection Criteria
Proximity to load center
Size and configuration
Needed improvements
Accessibility
Identify existing and new sites
Evaluate Sites
Public Workshops to gather public input
Site recommendations
Board of Water and Power Commissioners make the final decision (which is not binding on Taskforce recommendation)
The DWP gave the Taskforce a brief overview of the major components in the power distribution system, from generator to the home and where the distribution station fits in that network.
The showed all of the local distribution stations that provide service to the local area
The agenda for the next meeting, to be held on October 3 at 7:00 (the same time as the first Presidential debate) will be to:
Review the need for the Distribution Station
Review all of the sites that have been considered by the DWP to date.
The handouts for this meeting can be downloaded from the following link:
https://docs.google.com/open?id=0BwkQFPaAN4zwM1BBZE5FdHlpd28
