Mayor Bass Highlights Steps Towards a Greener Los Angeles in Year One

Issue a $2.5B regional bond to retrofit 40,000 homes and 5,000 public buildings with high‑efficiency insulation, heat pumps, solar, and battery storage, prioritizing underserved communities. This concrete move creates predictable funding, accelerates conservation upgrades, and expands the share of benefits to residents across the entire region.

Across the msas, the plan calculates progress against defined milestones: 25% more transit reliability, 15% energy intensity reductions in public buildings, and 60 miles of new clean-vehicle lanes. It builds a data engine that includes quarterly dashboards and regional indicators to translate energy savings into local jobs, with attention to underserved neighborhoods.

In addition, conservation and protection measures reach south californians by expanding urban tree canopy, retrofitting public housing, and deploying microgrids that reduce peak demand. The approach aligns with americas climate priorities and stitches together efforts from city agencies, water districts, and transit operators to deliver entire neighborhoods.

To scale impact, the plan promotes mass adoption of energy-efficiency codes, EV fleets, and regional procurement, with buy-in from small businesses and unions. It frames a bond-backed program that aligns incentives for developers to include solutions for shared prosperity across the regional footprint.

Implementation features quarterly progress reviews and milestone calendars mapped to the regional work across southern counties and msas. The city should include a plan for conservation of water, scalable home retrofit programs, and solutions to cut housing energy costs by at least 20% in the initial period, complemented by a mass outreach campaign that invites residents to participate and to share feedback with authorities.

Year One Funding Focus: Concrete Projects and Timelines

Allocate $150 million in Phase I to four initiatives and tie disbursements to clear milestones. Create a tight governance loop with quarterly reviews, measurable energy savings, and compliance checks. Edwards leads the program office, and the outreach continues to engage owners and managers, with a focus on readiness and accountability. This plan is unprecedented in scope for municipal-scale retrofit, yet practical in its sequencing.

Project one targets buildings with high consumption: retrofit envelope upgrades, LED lighting, efficient HVAC with heat pumps, and demand management to reduce electricity use during peak periods. The work will prioritize 60 large commercial sites and 40 multifamily residences, leveraging c-pace financing and utility incentives to accelerate deployment. The below budget allocates about $70 million for construction and $6 million for design, allowing rapid progression while maintaining required standards.

Project two covers solar canopies paired with battery storage on municipal and selected private properties, creating resilient capacity and reducing demand charges. There’s a target of 25 canopy installations and 10 stand-alone storage systems, modeled to operate with local grid constraints and extended outage resilience. Access to the grid will be streamlined, with required interconnection studies completed in Q1 and equipment procurement in Q2.

Project three strengthens outreach and workforce development: training for contractors, apprenticeships, and a support office to simplify ownership onboarding. The outreach continues to engage owners of smaller assets, with proactive engagement schedules and whats next for each site. The program will monitor progress weekly and adjust timelines.

Project four centers on office modeling and evaluation: data-driven dashboards, KPI tracking, and transparent reporting to accelerate decision-making. Since early data is available, the team will publish monthly updates, track energy intensity, and publish lessons learned to improve future rounds. истоchnik data will be cross-checked with utility feeds to verify accuracy.

Project	Scope	Timeline	Investment (USD M)	Key Metrics
Building Retrofit & Efficiency	Envelope upgrades, LED lighting, HVAC with heat pumps, and energy management across 100 sites (commercial and multifamily)	Design Q1; Procure Q2; Install Q2–Q3; QA Q4	70	Energy savings 25–35%; peak load reduction ~15%
Solar Canopies + Battery	25 canopies; 10 battery systems; interconnection readiness	Q1–Q2 design; Q2–Q4 install	22	50 MW generation; 40 MWh storage; improved resilience index
Outreach & Workforce	Contractor training; apprenticeships; onboarding guides	Q1–Q4 ongoing	6	200 installers trained; 95% completion rate
Office Modeling & Evaluation	Data models; KPIs; progress reports	Q1–Q4	4	Monthly dashboards; transparent bid/award process

Access to electricity will be expanded where required, with rigorous measurement frameworks and a living feedback loop to realign investments. There’s committed collaboration with owners and tenants, and the proposition emphasizes reducing emissions while maintaining service levels. Whats more, the intentional pacing keeps the program below risk thresholds, ensuring steady delivery and continuous improvement. источник

Expand Electric Bus Fleet and Deploy On‑Site Charging Infrastructure

Recommendation: secure funds now to finance a phased expansion that adds 25% more electric buses over 18 months and installs on-site charging at three depots to sustain continuous service. This approach leverages funds from state incentives and private partners, and creates a resilient backbone for a growing fleet.

Explore details of siting, bank financing, and supplier proposals; find optimal charger banks (3×150 kW per site) to maximize uptime while minimizing grid impact. Share a formal evaluation rubric with bidders and track response times to keep procurement on schedule.

Deployment design centers on three depots with multiple charging bays; installed fast chargers support rapid turnarounds, and an energy-management system coordinates between solar, grid, and storage to deliver predictable charging windows and reduce peak demand.

Funding structure blends state and federal programs with guaranteed savings from reduced idle time and lower fuel usage; a portion of the funds can be allocated to hardware procurement and installation in a single phase, then rolled into ongoing maintenance contracts for long-term reliability.

Governance and metrics ensure continuing progress: establish quarterly reporting, monitor uptime, charging efficiency, and maintenance costs, and adjust plans based on performance data. This approach strengthens business resiliency and provides a scalable model for fleets across the region.

Residential and Small‑Business Energy Retrofits and Smart Lighting Upgrades

Recommendation: Implement a 12- to 18-month retrofit package for homes and small businesses, financed by a public-private fund, pairing high-efficiency equipment upgrades, LED smart lighting, and building envelope improvements. Target 60,000 homes and 5,000 small-business sites; expected electric demand reduction of 15-25% and modeled energy savings of 0.5–1.0 billion kilowatt-hours annually, equivalent to several hundred million gallons of fuel-energy. This approach boosts generation efficiency, reduces peak load, and supports climate protection while delivering a tangible benefit to residents and local ecosystems. orleans-style pilots are currently feasible and can inform the broader rollout.

1. Scope and kits: Each retrofit kit includes LED lighting with sensors, smart thermostats, heat pumps, insulation, weatherstripping, and air sealing; use standard construction practices; ensure equipment compatibility; measure energy use with sub-meters to track impact where the program lands.
2. Public-private execution and funding: Create a joint fund, provide incentives provided to implementers, and engage entities such as utilities, end-users, and local contractors; require performance reporting; track spending and reuse of funds to maximize impact; set a goal to increase private investment relative to public spending.
3. Measurement and analysis: Use a formal analysis framework to compare modeled vs actual savings; track demand reductions and the environmental benefits; report where results meet or exceed targets; adjust programs in real time.
4. Logistics and construction schedule: Coordinate with contractors to minimize disruption; stage work in neighborhoods with available occupancy; align with utility programs to avoid conflicts; ensure safety and code compliance.
5. Co-benefits and wrap-up: Reduced climate impact via lower emissions and energy use; wetlands protection through cleaner power; improved comfort and indoor air quality; long-term resilience; and alignment with the region’s decarbonization goals. Homes and small enterprises currently facing higher energy costs can realize value, while vehicles and grid services benefit from improved EV charging readiness and daytime load management.

Urban Forest Expansion and Heat Mitigation in Priority Neighborhoods

Implement a targeted canopy expansion in priority blocks funded by a federal grant, with ladwps coordination and conservation companies handling planting and maintenance; installed irrigation lines and soil moisture storage ensure rapid establishment. The Troy corridor is the first pilot, with 8,000 trees installed across 40 blocks, spaced roughly 20 to 25 feet apart, yielding about 120,000 square feet of new canopy within the first 12 months. Operators will track planting quality and maintenance needs, with monthly reports to sustain performance.

The plan projects heat relief of 2–5 C on hot afternoons in treated blocks, and a measurable drop in surface temperatures across the canopy area. Costing uses 60 percent federal grant and 40 percent local match, with operators and conservation companies coordinating installation and ongoing care; ladwps and whitsett-area teams support procurement and accountability. Below-grade utilities are mapped to minimize conflicts and optimize root expansion.

Electrification of maintenance fleets and street equipment, paired with zero-emission pumps, reduces emissions and cooling demand. Conservation practices include mulch layers, soil restoration, and rainwater storage; installed sensors monitor soil moisture and tree health to guide implementing operations across the network. The network aims for replicable models that can scale nationwide, with operators and local companies delivering long-term stewardship.

Whitsett corridor is a priority cluster, since heat indices are highest there. The plan adds 1,000 trees and 50 shade structures across 20 blocks, with roughly 40,000 feet of new canopy along sidewalks. The dealer network and local companies will maintain plantings and ensure performance, with projections showing canopy growth and storage improvements supporting drought resilience across the nation.

Metrics anticipate canopy increase of about 12–15 percentage points in priority zones within 12 months, surface temperature reductions of 2–5 C, and lower cooling demand by 5–7 percent. Storage capacity targets include 2,500 gallons of rainwater storage at core sites, and total project scope covers 8,000 trees, about 120,000 square feet of new canopy, and ongoing monitoring by operators to inform future expansion nationwide.

Water Conservation, Stormwater Capture, and Reuse Programs

Recommendation: Implement mandatory rainwater capture and reuse across new developments and retrofits, targeting at least 40 million gallons per year within five years, tracked in a centralized report. Deploy solar chargers to power pumps, reducing energy demand by an estimated 15–25% in affected buildings. The program must be funded by a blended package of local bonds, state grants, and utility incentives, with oversight by the legislature to ensure compliance. This program must prioritize frontline workers, building owners, and environmental justice communities to minimize risks and maximize resilience, with stories from frontline crews illustrating how reliable capture reduces flood exposure and saves municipal costs during drought and disaster.

• Options for capture and reuse: Install gravity-fed cisterns for new buildings and retrofit existing buildings with 2,000–20,000 gallon tanks; cluster campuses to share a 50,000–100,000 gallon reservoir where feasible. Generation of saved water supports irrigation, toilet flushing, and cooling tower makeup, lowering municipal demand and building energy use.
• Technology and energy: Use pumps with variable-frequency drives and solar chargers; specify bass-sealed fittings to minimize leakage; pair with smart sensors for analytics; ensure equipment rated to withstand ranged temperatures and silt loads. This innovation reduces energy use and maintenance costs, and improves reliability for frontline facilities.
• Workforce and equity: Create apprenticeship tracks for environmental operations, with job orders for workers from affected communities; require contractors to hire residents from communities most exposed to risks.
• Environmental impact and climate resilience: Capture and reuse options reduce stormwater runoff, mitigate erosion, and curb disaster risk; the approach also supports climate adaptation by increasing groundwater recharge and urban green space. Also, publish an annual report detailing energy savings, water reuse rate, and building performance.
• Legislative alignment and governance: The legislature must finalize the policy framework, set performance metrics, and authorize funding; establish a transparent analysis process and a mechanism to adjust targets as climate ranges shift over time.

Owners of buildings and campuses should view this as a generation-long program; the initial five-year window can yield significant reductions in demand, while also creating value for tenants and occupants. The focus on frontline workers and communities ensures environmental stewardship remains at the center of decisions. This plan presents a robust, energy-conscious, and disaster-ready path to a more sustainable water cycle.

Green Jobs, Community Outreach, and Local Workforce Training

What matters is a targeted pipeline from school programs into skilled roles for utility-scale projects, retrofit work, and infrastructure upgrades across valley districts. A clear progression is required: classrooms, hands-on labs, and on-site experiences aligned with proposed modernization milestones that support restoration, electrification, and healthy communities.

Forge a partnership with school programs and ladwps to deliver curriculum aligned with industry needs, emphasizing hands-on training in solar, storage, and grid modernization at campuses and training sites within the valley districts.

Funding relies on grants and federal programs, complemented by banks financing and internal city resources; the approach leverages real-time data from pilot sites to accelerate placement and ensure what is learned translates to on-the-job performance, helping save energy across projects and communities.

The legislature should require contractors to hire locally and provide transparent apprenticeship targets; the proposed rules would set minimal safety and welfare standards, align incentives with job quality, and hold agencies accountable for outcomes in valley districts.

Restoration projects and wildlife protection are integral to site planning, ensuring infrastructure investments also safeguard habitats; the projects were designed to save energy and support climate resilience, with electrification pilots in municipal fleets and community facilities that improve public health.

Retraining and retrofit opportunities will scale through a catalog of programs anchored by ladwps and partner banks; the curriculum should cover what things residents need to know to enter skilled roles, and ensure a credible credential pathway within districts.

Proponents of a green transition will coordinate with federal agencies and local employers to sustain momentum; ongoing outreach, monitored metrics, and independent evaluations will ensure benefits reach underserved communities in the valley.