Environmental Groups Join Scattergood Hydrogen Retrofit Lawsuit

Three more environmental groups have joined a lawsuit challenging Los Angeles's plan to keep the Scattergood power plant running by retrofitting it to burn a mix of hydrogen and methane gas instead of shutting it down. Food & Water Watch, Physicians for Social Responsibility–Los Angeles, and the Sierra Club joined a case originally filed by Communities for a Better Environment and Los Angeles Waterkeeper, arguing the city and its utility, the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (LADWP), failed to properly study the project's environmental and health effects under California's main environmental review law. The Center for Biological Diversity has filed a separate suit over the same project.

The groups say the retrofit amounts to building a new fossil fuel plant rather than closing an aging one, since it would still burn methane gas alongside hydrogen. They point to concerns about hydrogen's safety risks, its heavy water use, and continued air pollution in nearby communities in Inglewood, Hawthorne, and Lennox, areas already affected by fossil fuel infrastructure. They also argue the project conflicts with Los Angeles's goal of going carbon-free by 2035, since Scattergood would keep operating past that date.

For homeowners, this case doesn't require any action, but it's part of a larger fight over how fast utilities move away from gas power. Decisions like this one shape how quickly cleaner electricity — and the rebates and incentives tied to it — become available in a region, so the outcome could eventually affect the energy choices and grid mix Los Angeles residents rely on.