AES Finalizes Redondo Beach Power Plant Sale: Reports

REDONDO BEACH, CA — After more than a year of debate and negotiation, the sale of the AES Redondo Beach Power plant has been finalized. But what happens next to the plant is still very much up in the air.

As the Daily Breeze reports, the 51-acre plot of land is being sold to a private developer, but could remain in operation through the end of 2023. It also could close down as early as this year, depending on how the new owner and city leaders move forward. As the Breeze reports, environmentalists and city leaders have been trying to close the plant for decades, and are hopeful the plant could close sooner rather than later.

Currently the plant is only used for backup power generation, but as the Los Angeles Times reports, the new sale agreement adds incentives to keep the plant running for the next few years. Under the reported deal, if AES can keep the plant open through 2023, they will give the developer $14 million for environmental clean up. If it runs for two years, that money is cut to just $6.5 million, and if the plant closes this year AES only has to give $1.5 million for environmental clean up.

That money may be enough to sway the decision: As part of the terms of the sale, developer Leo Pustilnikov has agreed to set aside half the plot for a public parkland and restore several acres of coastal wetlands destroyed to build the plant. Pustilnikov has been quoted as being in favor of the extension, but Redondo Beach Mayor Bill Brand reportedly unhappy with the delay, and argues the plant should close this year, citing environmental concerns for the marine life living near the plant, and the 21,000 residents who live within a mile of the site.

Brand says he and the city intend to continue the fight to get the plant close as quickly as possible.