This Week's News for LA’s Best Buildings

Biden Launches Green Buildings Partnership with States, Cities

The Biden administration is launching a new partnership with two states and several cities aimed at reducing planet-warming emissions from buildings. 

President Biden is expected to announce the new "Buildings Performance Standards Coalition" during remarks at the U.S. Conference of Mayors on Friday.

Mayor Garcetti Announces More Rebates for Large Water Conservation Projects

Mayor Eric Garcetti and the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (LADWP) today announced an eight-fold increase to a financial incentive program that helps multifamily, commercial, and industrial building customers to conserve water. 

“At a time of historic drought, we all have a role to play in conserving water,” said Mayor Eric Garcetti. “Through this increased rebate, building owners have an opportunity to not just save money, but help our city save millions of gallons of water every year.” 

Global Inflation Ends Era of Ever-Cheaper Clean Energy

The era of ever-cheaper clean power is over, giving a fresh jolt of uncertainty to global energy markets battered by one supply crisis after another. 

Relentless price declines over the past decade made renewables the cheapest sources of electricity in much of the world. In the past year, though, prices for solar panels have surged more than 50%. Wind turbines are up 13%, and battery prices are rising for the first time ever.

People Are the Most Important Part of Regulation in the Decisive Decade

With emissions on the rise as the nation rebounds from a pandemic-driven slowdown, the United States is dangerously close to missing its opportunity to mitigate the worst effects of climate change. In the coming years, action will be needed across every part of society to accelerate the transition away from fossil fuels and toward a clean, equitable grid. State public utility commissions (PUCs) and their staff will have a major role in this transition. These regulatory bodies are uniquely situated as the arbiters of utility decision-making and have immense influence over how utilities invest and operate.

Electricity Regulation with Equity and Justice for All

Poring over the line items on your monthly electricity bill may not sound like an enticing way to spend an afternoon, but the way electricity bills are structured has a significant impact on equitable energy access and distribution. For example, fixed fees can have a disproportionate impact on low-income households. And combined with other factors, low-income households and households of color are far more likely to report losing home heating service, according to recent federal data.

Ready, Set, Goals: While COP26 Spurred Climate Ambition, the Private Sector Responds with Climate Action

The Paris Climate Agreement, signed by world leaders in 2015, outlined climate action goals that needed to be achieved in order to limit the rise of global temperature to well-below 2 degrees Celsius (2C). In the time since, global urgency has skyrocketed, motivated by the sixth iteration of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s report released in August was appropriately dubbed a “code red” for humanity.

This year’s COP26 was a future-defining opportunity to revisit the off-track Paris targets, and set minimum requirements for what every participating country must do in the next three decades to maintain a 1.5C warming scenario. 

Image by Susan Walsh by the Associated Press