LOS ANGELES, Mar 15, 2010 -- Xinhua



A monthly carbon surcharge will be imposed for Los Angeles as part of efforts to help the city eliminate the use of coal by 2020, the Mayor's Office announced.

"The carbon surcharge proposal is part of the mayor's ambitious environmental agenda to make Los Angeles the cleanest, greenest city and to eliminate the use of coal in Los Angeles by 2020," the Mayor's Office said in a statement published by the Los Angeles Times on Monday.

"The increase will incentivize stakeholders to use alternative energy and therefore reduce Los Angeles' dependence on fossil fuels," said the statement.

Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa did not specify the amount he has in mind, but Deputy Mayor Jay Carson said 55 percent of Department of Water and Power (DWP) customers -- those who use the smallest amount of power -- would see their bills go up two dollars a month.

But Carson did not give information about the size of the increase for the remaining 45 percent of DWP customers.

A recent survey commissioned by the mayor's office showed 64 percent of respondents were willing pay an extra 2.50 dollars a month to help the DWP transition to renewable energy sources.

The proposal comes after a study by PA Consulting revealed the current surcharge -- the Energy Cost Adjustment Factor -- is not bringing in enough money to help Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa realize his goal of ending the city's reliance on coal by 2020.

The mayor's office said funds generated by the carbon surcharge would be deposited into a renewable energy investment fund that would be used to pay for wind, solar and geothermal power sources.

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