Nearby residents and environmental activists working to permanently close the Aliso Canyon underground natural gas storage facility urged the Los Angeles City Council Friday to use a city-owned water/power utility to study alternatives for relying on the 86-Bcf capacity facility. More than a dozen residents spoke and a group of residents from the Save Porter Ranch and Food & Water Watchorganization cited a recent study by EES Consulting which concluded that the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (LADWP) can meet summer and winter peaks without the Southern California Gas Co. storage facility. Opponents who have worked for more than a year to close Aliso Canyon permanently urged the city council to direct LADWP to conduct an independent study on alternatives to the gas storage field. The city is already a party in a proceeding being conducted by the California Public Utilities Commission, which ultimately, along with the state Division of Oil, Gas and Geothermal Resources, has the authority to decide Aliso Canyon’s fate.