Mar Vista Green Power

In November 2009 Mar Vista became the first neighborhood in Los Angeles to set a clean, renewable energy target: 100% clean electricity by 2018.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has been a key partner in helping numerous large retail organizations, the City of Santa Monica and others achieve their goals of Green Power purchasing and usage. And the EPA has invited Mar Vista to participate in a pilot program to address the clean energy goals of urban neighborhoods

The Mar Vista Community Council’s Board of Directors unanimously voted, at their regular July meeting, to submit an application to become an EPA Green Power Partner.   The EPA program recognizes communities in which local businesses and residents collectively buy green power in amounts that meet or exceed EPA's Green Power Community purchasing guidelines. For a community the size of Mar Vista to qualify this means at least 3% of total electricity purchased must come from clean, renewable sources including solar, wind, biomass and geothermal. All green power purchases are voluntary under the EPA program.

We are currently in the process of compiling the numbers that will allow us to compute our exact Green Power usage, and look forward to becoming one of the first urban neighborhoods to be recognized as an EPA Green Power Partner.

Green Power Community Benefits

The EPA offers recognition, resources and media/communications support to qualifying green power communities including:

• Nationally accepted guidelines for green power purchasing
• GPC road signs (shown above)
• Listing on EPA's Green Power Partnership Web site
• EPA Certificates of Recognition for local green-powered businesses
• Eligibility for the Green Power Leadership Awards
• Press release templates
• Assistance in calculating the environmental benefits of green power use
• Assistance with messaging and marketing
• Event banner artwork recognizing the community's achievement

Green Power Resources

Electricity generated from renewable energy resources can be purchased in Mar Vista:

1. Renewable Energy Credits - individuals and organizations can buy rights to renewable electricity generated on their behalf. Credits can be purchased for your home or business from certified retailers at rates ranging from $0.005/kWh to $0.03/kWh or more.
2. On-site Generation - federal, state, and local funding is available for installing on-site solar panels, wind turbines, and fuel cells.
3. LADWP Green Power - renewable electricity consisting of 25% small hydro-electric and 75% wind power may be purchased from LADWP for a premium of $0.03/kWh. Signup as residential and small non-residential or medium and large non-residential.