Los Angeles has officially ended its dependence on coal-generated electricity, marking a historic transition in the nation's second-largest city.
The Intermountain Power Project in Delta, Utah—which supplied the city's final coal-fired power for decades—has been transformed into an operational hydrogen-capable facility, making the transition operational in 2025 and positioning the city to meet its ambitious goal of achieving 100 percent carbon-free energy by 2035.
The completion of this conversion represents far more than symbolic environmental progress. The Intermountain Power Project Renewed (IPP Renewed) has activated its first phase with newly constructed natural gas combined-cycle generators capable of producing 840 megawatts of electricity.
These turbines are engineered to operate initially on a fuel blend of 70 percent natural gas and 30 percent green hydrogen, with a roadmap toward 100 percent hydrogen generation by 2045.
The most consequential element of this transformation involves the Advanced Clean Energy Storage (ACES) facility, which operates independently across the highway from the power plant. This 220-megawatt hydrogen production hub, developed by Mitsubishi Power and now owned by Chevron, stands as the world's largest operational green hydrogen production facility.
The electrolyzer system—capable of splitting water into hydrogen and oxygen through renewable energy-powered electrolysis—is expected to generate 21 million kilograms of hydrogen annually during its first operational phase.
The electrolyzer technology arrived in multiple shipments from Hydrogen Pro's manufacturing facility in Tianjin, China. The United States lacks sufficient domestic electrolyzer production capacity at the scale required for this project, with a total order of 40 electrolyzer units and 20 gas-separation skids.
These systems capture excess renewable energy from wind and solar sources during periods of low demand, converting it into hydrogen that serves as long-term energy storage and fuel for power generation.
Hydrogen storage capacity at the site represents perhaps the project's most innovative feature. Two massive underground salt caverns, each capable of storing 5,500 metric tons of working hydrogen capacity, provide approximately 300 gigawatt-hours of dispatchable energy storage.
Each cavern measures roughly equivalent in volume to the Empire State Building, creating an exceptionally reliable and leak-proof underground reservoir. These geological formations, discovered beneath the site during oil prospecting decades earlier, proved crucial to the facility's feasibility. The Western Hemisphere's largest salt dome provided the necessary infrastructure without requiring additional construction.
The transition carries significant environmental implications that extend beyond carbon reduction. Traditional coal operations at Intermountain consumed vast quantities of water for cooling purposes. The hydrogen production methodology dramatically reduces water consumption compared to previous coal-fired operations, an important consideration in water-scarce Utah.
When hydrogen combusts in the turbines, the process produces water vapor and nitrogen oxides (NOx). Advanced selective catalytic reduction systems installed at the facility are designed to maintain NOx emissions well below permitted regulatory limits while eliminating carbon dioxide emissions entirely.
Mayor Karen Bass announced the coal divestment milestone on December 4, 2025, underscoring the magnitude of this achievement for municipal energy policy. Two decades ago, Los Angeles' energy mix comprised approximately 3 percent renewable sources and more than 50 percent coal.
The city now operates on 60 percent carbon-free energy with zero coal dependency. This progression reflects investments in solar installations, wind farms, battery storage systems, and distributed generation technologies across the metropolitan area.
The project's financial structure relied on decisive federal support during earlier development phases. The Biden administration's Department of Energy provided a $504 million loan guarantee in 2022 to facilitate construction of the hydrogen production and storage infrastructure.
This federal backing proved essential given the emerging nature of large-scale hydrogen production technology and the substantial capital requirements for electrolyzer systems and salt cavern development.
LADWP plans to accelerate hydrogen adoption across additional municipal generation assets. The Scattergood Generating Station, located in Playa del Rey in West Los Angeles, is undergoing environmental approval for a parallel hydrogen conversion project.
This $800 million modernization effort will retrofit two generating units to operate on natural gas and hydrogen blends, with an anticipated in-service date of December 30, 2029. Like the Intermountain facility, Scattergood's units will initially run on 30 percent hydrogen before advancing toward complete hydrogen operation as fuel availability increases.
The hydrogen supply chain presents ongoing challenges despite the facility's operational status. Green hydrogen currently costs approximately $5 per kilogram when produced through renewable-powered electrolysis, roughly four to five times the cost of hydrogen derived from fossil gas steam reforming.
This cost differential reflects hydrogen's current status as an emerging technology requiring substantial capital investment and operational refinement. The project's economics will depend on hydrogen supply agreements, renewable energy pricing, and potential technological improvements that reduce production costs over time.
The workforce transition at Intermountain reflects the dual nature of this energy shift. The coal plant previously employed approximately 300 workers. The natural gas and hydrogen operations require approximately 180 employees, representing a significant reduction that affects local communities despite broader environmental benefits.
However, ACES Delta development is expected to create roughly 20 permanent positions dedicated to hydrogen production and storage operations. Additional downstream hydrogen utilization—in transportation, heavy industry, steelmaking, and chemical production—could generate further employment opportunities as the hydrogen economy develops in Utah's Millard County.
The technological pathway forward remains ambitious but unproven at scale. Burning pure hydrogen in gas turbines has never been deployed commercially in power generation applications.
The facility's current strategy of gradually increasing hydrogen percentages over two decades allows for incremental engineering refinements and turbine modifications as operational experience accumulates. Successful completion of this transformation could establish a replicable model for other coal-dependent regions pursuing energy decarbonization.
Federal policy uncertainty poses a significant headwind for hydrogen development initiatives. The incoming Trump administration has already moved to terminate federal funding for hydrogen hubs previously established in other regions, reallocating $1.2 billion in federal support away from California's hydrogen initiatives.
This policy reversal underscores the sector's continued dependence on government incentives and the vulnerability of long-term hydrogen projects to political shifts. LADWP's municipal ownership structure provides some insulation from these federal decisions, allowing the utility to continue development using state-level support and customer revenues.
Los Angeles' hydrogen transition extends beyond a single city's energy independence. The IPP Renewed facility supplies power to multiple Utah municipalities and California communities that collectively own the Intermountain Power Agency.
This multi-jurisdictional structure distributes both the economic benefits and the responsibility for this transformation across regional stakeholders. The project demonstrates how legacy infrastructure assets can be repurposed to support clean energy objectives when technological advances align with policy ambition and long-term planning horizons.
The implications of this transition ripple throughout energy markets and policy discussions. If the ACES facility successfully maintains full operational status while progressively increasing hydrogen percentages, and if the Scattergood conversion proceeds as planned, Los Angeles will have positioned itself as a leading metropolitan area in hydrogen-based power generation.
This operational experience could inform policy decisions and investment patterns across the United States, particularly in regions with stranded coal infrastructure and populations supporting clean energy transitions. The coming years will determine whether hydrogen becomes a cornerstone of decarbonized electricity systems or remains a specialized application in energy transition strategies.
