Burbank launches 5-year Renewables Plan

The City of Burbank has unveiled a five-year plan to meet the City's renewable energy goals.

The Burbank Water and Power Board on Thursday gave initial approval of a five-year road map for meeting rising energy demands and still reaching its goal of using 20 percent renewable energy resources by 2017.

Board members voted 4-0, with three members absent, to approve a draft of the city's 2006 Integrated Resource Plan. Their approval paves the way for the City Council to give final approval this summer.

"The purpose of the IRP is to present a plan on how to meet Burbank's future electric needs," said Bruno Jeider, the author of the report, at BWP's headquarters near downtown. "Essentially what the plan has us doing is meeting 100 percent of increased requirements through efficiency, conservation and renewable resources."

The municipal utility, which operates on an annual budget of $300 million a year, serves 45,000 households and 6,000 businesses in the city.