Chapter 7 — ELECTRICITY GENERATING FACILITIES

• (a) Purpose and findings. The City Council finds that the power plant built within the City of Redondo Beach was constructed at a time when large electrical generation plants were commonly located near the ocean in order to allow the use of ocean water for cooling of the generating facilities. The State Water Resources Control Board has adopted Resolution No. 2010-0020 generally requiring coastal power plants to stop using ocean water to cool their steam-turbine generating units throughout the State of California by 2020. This means that new plants do not need to be located near the coast and should instead be built away from populated urbanized areas. Power plants are economically damaging to the City as a whole and harmful to the public health, welfare and safety. The City of Redondo Beach has serious concerns about the lasting negative impacts on the health, safety and welfare of the community for generations to come that would result from building a new power plant that will likely run more often than the existing plant currently does. Given that such facilities no longer need to be located in proximity to the ocean, and the adverse effects of such facilities described above, the City desires to prohibit: (1) the construction of all new electricity generating facilities of 50 megawatts or more in the City of Redondo Beach; (2) modifications, including alteration, replacement or improvement of equipment, that result in a 50 megawatt or more increase in the electric generating capacity of an existing electricity generating facility; and (3) construction of any facility subject to the California Energy Commission's jurisdiction under Public Resources Code Section 25502.3.

• (b) Definitions. The following terms and phrases, whenever used in this chapter, shall be construed as defined in this section. The rules for construction of language, contained in Section 10-2.401, are also applicable to this section.

  • (1) "Electricity generating facility" shall mean any stationary or floating electrical generating facility using any source of thermal energy and any facilities appurtenant thereto.

• (c) Prohibition on electricity generating facilities. There is a prohibition on all property in the City of Redondo Beach on: (1) the construction of all new electricity generating facilities of 50 megawatts or more; (2) modifications, including alteration, replacement or improvement of equipment, that result in a 50 megawatt or more increase in the electric generating capacity of an existing electricity generating facility; and (3) construction of any facility subject to the California Energy Commission's jurisdiction under Public Resources Code Section 25502.3. No permit or any other applicable license or entitlement for use, including, but not limited to, the issuance of a business license, shall be approved or issued for the establishment, maintenance or operation of an electricity generating facility within the City limits of Redondo Beach that falls within this prohibition.

• (§ 2, Ord. 3134 c.s., eff. August 7, 2015)

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