By Michael Finnegan and Gale Holland, Los Angeles Times | http://lat.ms/gLHLgi
These solar panels at Pierce College in Woodland Hills are among the district's green energy projects that were built. But millions of dollars were poured into designs for installations that proved so impractical or unpopular that they were scrapped. (Gary Friedman / Los Angeles Times)
March 6, 2011 - Larry Eisenberg had a vision. "Amazing," he called it. "Spectacular."
The Los Angeles Community College District would become a paragon of clean energy. By generating solar, wind and geothermal power, the district would supply all its electricity needs. Not only would the nine colleges sever ties to the grid, saving millions of dollars a year, they would make money by selling surplus power. Thanks to state and federal subsidies, construction of the green energy projects would cost nothing upfront.
As head of a $5.7-billion, taxpayer-funded program to rebuild the college campuses, Eisenberg commanded attention. But his plan for energy independence was seriously flawed.
He overestimated how much power the colleges could generate. He underestimated the cost. And he poured millions of dollars into designs for projects that proved so impractical or unpopular they were never built.
These and other blunders cost nearly $10 million that could have paid for new classrooms, laboratories and other college facilities, a Times investigation found. >>story>>
Billions to Spend: Complete Coverage/Times Investigation: Billions to spend on L.A. community colleges
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