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LA WATCHDOG - The Office of Public Accountability/Ratepayer Advocate issued a report to the Board of Water and Power Commissioners stating that the proposed rates associated with the Department’s plan to be powered by 100% renewables by 2035 are “not reasonable.”
The most likely scenario is that our power rates will almost quadruple over the next ten years. This assumes everything goes according to plan. This represents an annual rate increase of 14%. And this does not include money that will need to be invested by homeowners, landlords, and apartment dwellers to accommodate upgraded electrical systems, more energy efficient appliances, smart meters, rooftop solar, EV chargers, and heat pumps. The estimated cost for a single-family residence is in the range of $10,000 to $20,000.
At the July 9 Board meeting, the DWP and Bureau of Sanitation made a presentation on Pure Water Los Angeles, a $25 billion recycled water facility (“toilet to tap”) located at the Hyperion Treatment Plant, located just south of the airport, that will have operating and maintenance costs of $400-450 million a year. To date, there has been no discussion of the capital and operating costs that are estimated to be in the range of $10,000 an acre foot, about eight times the cost of treated water provided by the Metropolitan Water District. This will result in the doubling or tripling of our water rates.
Our bimonthly DWP bill also has a provision for the Sewer Service Charge. In May, the Bureau of Sanitation proposed a $700 million increase in this fee over the next four years. This will result in the doubling of our rates and includes a 22% increase in October. This 20% a year increase is being ramrodded through the Katy Yaroslavsky’s Energy and Environment Committee without any discussions of Sanitation’s operations, strategic plans, and finances, without any outreach to sewer customers, and without any independent review and analysis by an independent third party.
We can also expect a hefty increase in our Solid Waste Resource Fee that is also part of our DWP bill, probably in the range of 50%, or about $225 to $300 a year for a single-family residence. We have yet to see any information on the anticipated increase that will be needed to cover the existing shortfalls that are being covered by the General Fund, the new composting initiative, and the purchase of a new fleet of very expensive, environmentally friendly heavy-duty vehicles.
Some have suggested talking to your Councilmember. But the odds that any of them will do anything to alleviate these wallet draining increases is unlikely since they are owned by special interests, whether it be the public sector unions or the environmental community.
It’s ugly! My advice to DWP Ratepayers: Hold onto your wallets and vote with your purse in November.
(Jack Humphreville writes LA Watchdog for CityWatch. He is the President of the DWP Advocacy Committee, the Budget and DWP representative for the Greater Wilshire Neighborhood Council, and a Neighborhood Council Budget Advocate. He can be reached at: [email protected].)
