How LA Escaped California's Energy Crisis

Los Angeles' Department of Water & Power is a poster-child of success while California experiences a full-fledged energy crisis.

1 minute read

December 29, 2000, 1:00 PM PST

By Chris Steins @planetizen


As California reels in the midst of wild fluctuations in electricity prices, possible rolling brownouts, and a growing gap between supply and demand, the City of Los Angeles Department of Water & Power has become the poster child for how to do it right. In fact, the Department has done quite well financially in the months since deregulation. Metro Investment Report speaks with DWP General Manager David Freeman about what has led up to this "full-fledged" crisis, the steps we must take to get out of it (heavily focusing on conservation), and why a commodity like electricity must operate with at least some level of regulation. And what to do about siting new power plants? It's simple: tear down the old ones and replace them with facilities that produce twice the power and half the pollution.

Thanks to Jon Lonner

Tuesday, October 4, 2005 in The Metro Investment Report

A car drives through a puddle, making a large splash. Rain pours down.

California plans to bury El Niño’s downpour

If the state plays its cards right, it may be able to store a billion acre-feet of El Niño’s water in aquifers.

October 28, 2026 - Grist

Lake Powell with much of the water evaporated.

Desperate measures: Advocates weigh draining Lake Powell to fill Colorado River

Draining the reservoir could reduce evaporation losses by a couple hundred thousand acre-feet.

October 30, 2026 - Yale Environment 360

A road in north eastern Nebraska with power lines on either side, and grassy fields.

Eastern Nebraska is running out of electricity

Data centers and electrification are straining eastern Nebraska’s grid, throttling economic development.

November 6, 2026 - Grist

Two people stand under mesh coverings shaped like petals

Houston gains petal-shaped cooling infrastructure to make streets more ‘delightful’

The city has installed the pavilions along 15 blocks in Houston.

15 minutes ago - De Zeen

A drawn rendering of the light rail passing through a tree-lined neighborhood.

After years of opposition to light rail, this L.A. city wants a $200 million station

Cerritos officials want the Southeast Gateway Line, a planned 14.5-mile light rail route through Los Angeles County, to stop in their city.

1 hour ago - Los Cerritos Community News

The xAI power plant in Southaven, through trees. It is a large gray building.

SpaceXAI may be fined $6 million for data center lacking water permits

A Mississippi agency also responds after a federal judge criticized the state’s Clean Air Act enforcement.

2 hours ago - Mississippi Today

FREE Course: Walkable City 1: Why Walkability?

After describing his path towards focusing on walkability as the essence of good planning, Jeff Speck marches through his five principal reasons for making more walkable places.

Reinventing Malls: Planning Alchemy—Turning Gray Fields Into Gold

The course focuses on the opportunities and imperatives that shape reinvention of mall sites.