Dear AES: Here’s A Better Idea for Your Next 100 Years in Redondo Beach

Last week the Redondo Beach City Council missed a chance to show some creativity or courage when they decided to punt on engaging with AES Southland over the company's future plans for the big, gray, hulking concrete monolith looming over Harbor Drive and the 52 acres of prime coastal real estate the power plant takes up.

Councilman Bill Brand was unsuccessful in requesting that the City investigate a rezoning of the land to phase out its industrial use, with no other member of the Council being willing to even second a motion to vote on it.

Councilman Pat Aust reflected the fear factor filling the hearts of his fellow motionless colleagues when he was quoted warning, "It's not the time to be picking a fight with the bigger bully on the block." 

I'm sure he wasn't talking specifically about AES Southland President, Eric Pendergraft, but there can be no doubt that nobody but Brand wants to challenge Pendergraft or his company. Maybe it's memories of what happened when the city tried taking AES on over the utility tax.

I've personally always been in favor of having a public park instead of a fossil fuel burning, pollution spewing, greenhouse gas-producing relic of a power plant from the 1940s but I'm funny that way. I even grok that Redondo is "park poor" compared to the average city.

I'm also pragmatic and atuned enough to smell the coffee when it's brewing and to board the Clue Train when it's leaving the station. So I can see where the costs to covert the power plant to a park and to clean up the Superfund level toxic mess on that site along with the legal costs to battle AES for the right to do so make this a cost prohibitive option, highly unlikely to happen anytime soon.

But is that the only choice? Park or natural gas fired power plant? 

If AES is really anxious to stay in Redondo Beach for the next 100 years, why not envision a new relationship between the City and this energy provider? I propose to them that we'd like AES to really modernize their Redondo location by converting it to a utility scale solar photovoltaic power plant. Mr. Pendergraft, we want to be your community partners in bringing clean, renewable energy production to power Redondo's future.

One of the few good uses for legacy superfund sites like the current power plant is to host new utility scale solar PV plants.  Guess what? That's a business that AES is already in  It's not like we're coming out of left field asking them to reinvent their business model here.

The AES Solar division currently develops, finances, constructs, builds, owns and operates utility scale solar photovoltaic power plants all around the world.  I'm previsualizing one right now, right here in Redondo Beach.  Can you see it too?

Mr. Pendergraft knows the same truths and harsh realities about the state of climate change today that I do and he can see what's coming tomorrow, both in terms of environmental damage and impact on the bottom line of CO2-producing power plants like the "modernized" one he'd like to operate in Redondo Beach. 

So he'll appreciate Redondo's unique support and partnership in expanding his company's renewable power portfolio (one of his corporation's stated goals) and helping AES reap the carbon credits and other financial incentives that would come with making this bold, innovative transformation.  And he'd recognize the tangible value of creating an environmentally-friendly public image for AES and the branding benefits of becoming Redondo Beach's respected green power partners.

With all the transmission infrastructure already in place and 52 acres available for solar panels – including the new highly powerful concentrated solar systems – the opportunity to change the energy destiny and carbon footprint of Redondo Beach seems to be sitting there waiting to be leveraged… or at the very least discussed. That is, if you're open to a win for the City and its people, a win for AES and a win for the environment.

Mr. Pendgraft, I'd be happy to buy you a cup of coffee so we can talk about all this. I'd also like to chat about your AES Wind division and maybe converting some of those no longer used off shore oil platforms into wind turbines.  I've got some ideas on generating wave energy off the Redondo Beach coast too. You can email me right here through Redondo Beach Patch.