DEPARTMENT OF WATER POWER

LADWP utility bills have skyrocketed over 40% under Mayor Bass. 

Coming off a brutally hot summer and fall, LA residents are struggling to pay. The average household now pays almost $1,000 more per year for water and power than when Karen Bass became mayor, and for larger families, especially in the San Fernando Valley, the increase can be much larger. DWP rates are supposed to be approved by the City Council so the public is informed and can weigh in. But the Council has not passed a rate schedule ordinance in over a decade. The 2016 ordinance set rates through 2020, and the DWP Board of Commissioners never sent a replacement. Instead, the increases have been hidden in "adjustment factors," which are intended for small changes in electricity and water supply costs. Today these adjustment factors make up over two-thirds of the rates Angelenos pay.

Our plan

Audit LADWP

As a city-owned utility, LADWP is supposed to provide affordable service for Angelenos. Many ratepayers don’t trust that their DWP bills are accurate and don’t trust that the department is spending efficiently without waste.

  • Work with Controller Mejia and the Ratepayer Advocate to fully audit DWP.

  • Root out any fraud, waste, and abuse in the department.

  • Audit meter reading and billing practices to ensure customers are only paying for what they use.

  • Provide a clear and transparent explanation for past rate increases.

  • Explore rolling back ballooning executive pay and new C-suite positions.

Increase Transparency and Flexibility

  • Require DWP to justify their rates in front of City Council and the public.

  • Appoint long-term, accountable DWP commissioners and executives committed to Los Angeles.

  • Explore providing the option of monthly bills.

  • Offer and build awareness of payment flexibility options, such as Level Pay, after Summer heat spikes.

  • Improve and bring back affordability programs for seniors and low-income households that were struck down by a 2023 court order.

  • Deploying smart meters so customers can track and adjust their usage in real time.


Repair and Modernize Infrastructure

From broken hydrants and empty reservoirs in the Palisades to the trunk line burst in West Hollywood, we’ve seen the results of infrastructure that’s broken and not designed for disaster response. The longer we take to address infrastructure issues, the more it will cost us. 

  • Proactively plan to ensure water availability during large-scale fires.

  • Accelerate replacement of end-of-life water pipes.

  • Get LADWP out of the way of Palisades recovery.

  • Reform new service connection rules and processes to stop hindering housing production.

  • Transition to green energy in the most cost-efficient way possible.

Focus on Lower Bills, Not Just Lower Rates

The biggest leverage points for helping customers achieve lower LADWP bills is to assist customers in lowering their energy use without sacrificing comfort. We should expand LADWP assistance programs to help customers understand their energy and water usage and find the highest leverage ways to reduce it. 

  • Expand LADWP’s Home Energy Improvement Program and Commercial Direct Install Program to make it easy for customers to find out why their energy use is high and how they can fix it without sacrificing comfort. 

  • Expand and promote LADWP’s rebate programs for attic insulation and energy efficiency improvements.

Pay Customers to Lower Their Energy at Key Times 

Many of the LADWP’s hidden rate increases have come from a need to overbuild infrastructure to meet peak demand at peak times. But there are cheaper and more effective ways to meet these peaks, including storing excess energy to be used at key times, and paying customers to reduce their usage when demand is highest. LADWP’s existing demand response programs are not widely known or utilized. 

  • Expand the Power Saver’s program to allow residential customers to get paid for turning up their thermostat a few degrees at key moments a few times a year. 

  • Expand the Commercial Demand Response program for large energy users to shift their energy use to off-peak times.

  • Explore virtual power plant options to enable better use of distributed energy generation and storage. 

  • Incentivize rooftop solar and storage to cost-effectively meet power demand.