LA Approves $228-Mil Power Play

LOS ANGELES-The City Council here has agreed to pay $228 million to replace an aging power plant with a new and more powerful one, a small but important step toward providing commercial and residential users alike with a steadier source of affordable electricity in the years ahead.

The new facility will be built on the grounds of the outdated San Fernando Valley Generating Station in Sun Valley. The original plant opened in 1954, when the area was little more than a collection of dirt roads, agricultural fields and a few new housing tracts.

When completed in 2004, officials at the Department of Water and Power say, the new plant will produce about 500 megawatts at day. That’s enough to supply power to about 450,000 homes.