L.A. council moves to review electric rate hike plan

Seven members of the Los Angeles City Council moved Friday to conduct their own review of Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa’s latest plan to raise electric rates at the Department of Water and Power.

One day after the DWP board approved the first of four increases planned for the coming year, Councilwoman Jan Perry introduced a motion asking her colleagues to take up the proposal. Perry’s request is scheduled to come up for a vote Tuesday.

Although Perry said she is keeping an open mind about the plan, Councilman Dennis Zine adopted a less nuanced stand.

“My focus on it is very simple: I’m voting no,” he said.

The DWP board, whose members are appointed by Villaraigosa, voted Thursday to add 0.8 cents to each kilowatt hour of energy consumed. The panel is expected to approve charging an extra 2.7 cents for each kilowatt hour by April 2011.

That money is needed, in part, to help Villaraigosa reach his goal of securing 20% of the utility’s power from renewable sources by Dec. 31. Once all of the increases are in place, households are expected to pay an additional 8.8% to 28.4%, depending on where they live and how much power they use.

Businesses are expected to see increases of 21% to 22%, according to the DWP.

The council has the power to affirm the DWP’s board decision or send it back to the five-member panel for more work.

Villaraigosa’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment. But on Thursday, the mayor said he respected the council’s right to review DWP proposals.

“We almost always have been on the same page on the vast majority of issues, and I just look forward to what their good counsel brings,” he said.

--David Zahniser and Phil Willon at Los Angeles City Hall

Photo: Councilwoman Jan Perry

Credit: Bob Chamberlin / Los Angeles Times

Comments

[joemamabush]

Don't raise the bill for retired folks. Unless DWP installs solar panels on their roofs. Then DWP will grow on real estate. Green energy will spread like wild fire. DWP could stay in controll. Fewer blackouts? A smart grid in L.A. scarry?

[JSA26]

I hope the City Council demands a clear credible plan from the DWP, unlike the last time they tried to implement this union give away.

What are the long term costs of these "renewable resources" and how does that compare to the alternatives? Are these the last increases needed for this plan or is this just the beginning?

How about nuclear power? It costs less than coal and emits no green house gases.

[Hoot]

I cannot understand why pay cuts for DWP employees is not an option. It simply makes absolutely no sense to once again ask taxpayers to shoulder the burden.

Any Council member who votes to support this rate increase will be ending their career.

[Hamster-Style]

I've said it a few times here and I'll say it again. This is the DWP and Mayors sneaky way of getting around their failed Proposition B from 2009.

Voters didn't approve of the rate increase then and they most certainly don't now. Especially with unemployment rates as high as they are.

[The Dote]

I hope the city council will think about how this will affect the rate payers budgets with all the tax increases so far. This is all about what the Mayor wants, and his ego. He needs to be working on balancing the budget. All he has done is raise taxes, since he has been in office. It is always what he wants, and not what the citizens need. We voted down Messure B, and he is bringing it through the back door. The DWP board is just his puppets, since they serve at his pleasure. The DWP board only cares about their money. The Mayor is corrupt through, and through.

[Mike]

Did you people not get the message when prop B failed.
What don't you all understand anout the word NO !!!

We are now bairly surviving and trying to pay the electric bill now and they want to ream us with not one but a series or rate increases!

[Kelly]

Um... Hello?!!! The timing could not be worse for this. This mayor is an abject failure on so many levels and doesn't care at all about the people he serves. He is just concerned with making a name for himself - trying to glom onto the green thing. God, I can't stand him.

[jim]

What on earth are these people thinking of ? A gigantic rate increase is exactley what we Do not need now.

[Scott]

So when all this renewable green energy comes online should all the overcharged customers footing the bill be expecting a decrease in billing? You people beat all ive ever seen if you cant manage and invest the money you are overcharging for future ventures then there is a problem within the management side of this not the consumer side,Where does it end the grave for the consumer is that where it finally gets easier? I relly am curious as to whether anybody will ever have another solution to a problem besides heaping it on the backs of CONSUMERS&TAXPAYERS

[Eve]

That's the major for ya...always looking out for the people.
lol

[Joan Krolak]

I am a single ,energy saving person who pays over $500 a month. I am also a Senior. Councilman Zine, please help.
Joan Krolak

[Joan Krolak]

I am a retired,energy saving Senior. I am paying every billing approxemitly $1,000. I can't pay more. I purchased a sub-meter to lower costs and it just gets worse.
Joan Krolak