Los Angeles regulators have issued an approval in what became the first step in transitioning a gas plant to hydrogen generation.
The Los Angeles Board of Water and Power Commissioners has approved and certified the final Environmental Impact Report (EIR) for the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power’s (LADWP) Scattergood Generating Station Units 1 and 2 Green Hydrogen-Ready Modernization Project.
“The Board’s approval of the EIR Scattergood Generating Station Units 1 and 2 Green Hydrogen-Ready Modernization Project is monumental not only for LADWP but the City of Los Angeles,” said LADWP CEO and Chief Engineer Janisse Quiñones. “The Scattergood project is a critical clean energy solution for Los Angeles that will also maintain power reliability and grid resiliency especially as we face more unpredictable threats to our electrical system and our environment.”
The California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) process for the project was initiated in 2023 and included community outreach that captured comments during the public review period. According to project filings, LADWP is proposing to install fuel-flexible combined cycle equipment capable of burning significant amounts of renewable energy-sourced hydrogen to replace the generating capacity currently provided by SGS Units 1 and 2. The 346 MW project would cost an estimated $800 million, with an in-service date of Dec. 30, 2029.
Scattergood Generating Station provides firm energy capacity in-basin. The plant provides local generation capability by bridging power shortfalls including periods of extreme demand during high heat, earthquakes and wildfires, as occurred in January 2025. Scattergood is also meant to provide the insurance of local power generation when LADWP works on transmission line upgrades to bring in more renewable energy from outside the basin. In addition, the completion of the modernization project at Scattergood will help ensure that LADWP meets California’s regulatory mandates related to Once Through Cooling.
The modernization project at Scattergood entails replacing the generating capacity of the existing Scattergood Units 1 and 2, which are conventional natural-gas-fired steam-boiler generators, with a rapid-response combined-cycle generation system (CCGS) capable of operating on a fuel mixture of natural gas and a minimum of 30 percent hydrogen by volume. The proposed CCGS would consist of a combustion-turbine generator and a steam-turbine generator operating in tandem.
A Request for Proposals to execute the Scattergood Modernization Project is closing in November, and the Board of Water and Power Commissioners must review and approve the contract award before it proceeds. The project is expected to be in service by the end of 2029.
The city’s goal is to eventually burn 100% green hydrogen at Scattergood, and do this at some of its other gas-burning plants as well.
