DWP Wants to Lease Your Rooftop for Solar Panels

LOS ANGELES, CA -- The Los Angeles Department of Water and Power is planning to lease hundreds of rooftops under a program to install solar panels in various neighborhoods around the city, it was announced Wednesday.

The Board of Water and Power Commissioners this week approved a plan to pay homeowners $30 per month to lease their rooftops for 20 years.

DWP is looking to install solar panels on up to 400 single-family homes over three years, and will keep the energy generated.

The utility's leasing, installation, equipment and other costs are expected to be an estimated $12.9 million over the two decades, officials said.

Enrollment is set to open in 2017, with priority given to homes in areas where solar panels are not common, officials said.

Commission Vice President William Funderburk said the "solar rooftops program is another step in LADWP's efforts to meet the goals of reaching 400 megawatts of solar power by 2017 outlined" in Mayor Eric Garcetti's sustainability plan.

"By increasing the amount of rooftop solar, we also get closer to LADWP achieving the state-mandated goal of 33 percent renewable energy by 2020," Funderburk said.

A separate plan to install solar arrays onto multi-family rooftops is in the works as well, with DWP officials aiming for a 2018 start date.

City News Service; Photo: ReubenGBrewer via Wikimedia Commons