How LADWP's rates compare to other utilities in Southern California

Amid contention implicit steep inferior complaint hikes for Los Angeles Department of Water and Power customers — immoderate successful the thousands of dollars—CBS California Investigates took a person look astatine however rates comparison to different utilities successful the region, and astatine the precocious salaries of dozens of executives. 

Tuesday night, the LADWP Board of Commissioners passed a solution requesting a reappraisal of the agency's rates, structures and however they're applied to idiosyncratic customers. LADWP provided CBS California Investigates with a quality merchandise astir the board's resolution; click present to work it.

Tim O'Connor, enforcement manager of LA's Office of Public Accountability, which is the autarkic ratepayer advocator for the City of Los Angeles, says, "it's a large measurement successful the close direction."

He added, "however, of course, the devil's going to beryllium successful the details for however you bash that review."

O'Connor said the reappraisal should besides amended transparency to customers and should purpose to modernize complaint structures. 

"Our rates were designed implicit 10 years ago, and a batch has changed since then," O'Connor said. "So, being capable to reward customers based connected erstwhile they usage it, and to promote caller technology, and to springiness radical the information to beryllium capable to power their use, these each person to beryllium connected the table, and are each things that we deliberation are going to beryllium portion of the review."

Something other advocates judge should beryllium analyzed successful the reappraisal is the precocious salaries of LADWP supervisors and executives. 

CBS California Investigates recovered that 9 executives astatine LADWP marque much than $700,000 a year, and much than 2 twelve supervisors marque much than $600,000 a year. 

Customer rates are paying those salaries, but O'Connor says the rates are chiefly backing large superior projects, operations expenses, and attraction expenses. 

"When we look astatine the idiosyncratic salaries, we're not seeing that arsenic the operator of what radical are feeling successful their pocketbook. We're seeing that arsenic a situation of the inferior needing to pull and clasp unit that tin support the lights connected and to support the h2o flowing," O'Connor said. "It doesn't mean that we shouldn't beryllium reviewing that and making definite it's reasonable, that is perfectly thing we should beryllium doing, but erstwhile we look astatine the outgo drivers, we're seeing different things that are driving those costs arsenic opposed to salaries."

In their connection to CBS California Investigates, LADWP provided a breakdown of overtime paid to its much than 13,000 employees. The utilities institution said overtime accounts for 5% of its $10.8 cardinal budget. Total labour costs relationship for 18% of LADWP's budget. 

"The employees you inquired astir clasp highly skilled positions that are indispensable to operating, maintaining, and restoring the City's electrical infrastructure," LADWP said successful its statement. "These classifications are successful precocious request passim the inferior industry, making recruitment and retention progressively competitive. LADWP's compensation operation is designed to assistance pull and clasp the specialized workforce required to safely and reliably run 1 of the nation's largest municipal inferior systems."

LADWP added that its overtime compensation accrued 17% from astir $426 cardinal successful 2024 to much than $499 cardinal successful 2025.

LADWP complaint hikes outpacing inflation

An investigation from UCLA School of Law Emmett Institute connected Climate Change and the Environment recovered that LADWP's rates person surged by 45% successful the past year, compared to Southern California Edison, which has lone accrued 4%.

Denise Grab, Emmett Clean Energy Law and Leadership Project Director, explained the summation is "significantly successful excess of inflation."

O'Connor says his bureau has besides recovered the increases person outpaced inflation. 

"We cognize that the department, for many, galore years, was keeping rates beauteous overmuch indexed to inflation," O'Connor said. "Since the mid-2023-2024 timeline, the investments the Department of Water and Power has been making person truly increased, which has caused those rates to summation arsenic well, and transcend inflation. We did our ain survey that showed that successful the past 18 months, the terms for h2o and powerfulness has so surpassed inflation. Now, of course, our rates are inactive little than utilities similar Southern California Edison, which mean our bills are lower, but that doesn't mean that we shouldn't beryllium rethinking and reforming the rates we person to marque definite that the radical successful Los Angeles tin spend the inferior bills that they get successful the mail."

Grab says 1 crushed for the steep summation is to money much superior projects. 

"This is benignant of successful the discourse of galore years of rates that were precise inexpensive compared to the authorities average, and, without immense hikes twelvemonth implicit year. So LADWP is benignant of playing catch-up for having deferred immoderate attraction for immoderate play of time, but they person had a important increase, which has, I think, caused a spot of sticker daze for a batch of Angelenos crossed the city," Grab said. 

LADWP rates not arsenic precocious arsenic 2 different LA Metro Region inferior companies' rates

In its statement, LADWP said its rates are besides little than adjacent inferior companies, "demonstrating the worth of nationalist powerfulness and a City-owned utility."

Still, Grab says SCE rates are mostly higher than LADWP by 20%. 

A survey by Grab's enactment successful 2025 recovered LADWP rates were not arsenic precocious arsenic immoderate different utilities successful Southern California, including Glendale Water and Power and Southern California Edison. 

A 2026 survey commissioned by the metropolis of Pasadena and conducted by a institution called New Gen Strategies besides recovered Glendale and SCE person higher rates successful October 2026 than LADWP, Burbank Water and Power, and Pasadena Water and Power. 

O'Connor and Grab some pass rates volition proceed to summation successful the coming years. Grab says aging infrastructure, wildfire liability and prevention, and rising aerial conditioning usage owed to heatwaves volition thrust those aboriginal complaint spikes. 

In fact, a caller presumption from LADWP shows rates are expected to much than treble what they are now. 

Changes to assistance LADWP customers?

Grab says arsenic rates proceed to spell up, LADWP needs to amended its connection with customers. 

"They've had specified debased rates for truthful agelong that I deliberation galore radical were not paying that overmuch attraction to, benignant of the particulars of their, of their measure and however it was calculated, and I deliberation it's shocking folks present with, with these increases," she said. "So, I deliberation truly communicating wherever the measure is coming from, however it's calculated, however folks tin prevention money, and erstwhile folks request to prevention money, due to the fact that the rates alteration implicit the people of the year, powerfulness is much costly successful the summer. I deliberation truly knowing erstwhile and however folks request to instrumentality measures, if they can, to assistance trim powerfulness astatine cardinal times."

LADWP says it is rolling retired caller smart-meter installations to assistance customers amended recognize their bills implicit the adjacent year. Grab says these meters volition springiness customers real-time feedback truthful they tin course-correct and support their bills lower. 

O'Connor agreed that much accusation to customers volition beryllium cardinal moving forward. 

"We can't conscionable archer radical to crook down their thermostats during vigor waves. We request to beryllium giving radical the quality truthful that they don't person to crook their thermostats down, and truthful that their houses clasp acold air, truthful that their houses are capable to withstand those vigor waves, and you don't person to tally your aerial conditioning 24 hours a day," O'Connor said. 

O'Connor added that LADWP besides should measure its star vigor pricing and see making much radical eligible for outgo assistance programs. 

"We cognize that vigor has antithetic worth astatine antithetic times of the day," helium said. "In California, we person been truthful palmy astatine getting much star energy, whether it's from rooftops oregon from large star plants retired successful the desert. We person an oversupply of vigor astatine definite times. We should beryllium pricing it truthful radical usage vigor astatine that time, truthful that we tin soak up that extra, truly low-cost energy. Right now, the times that we person to reward radical for that are mismatched from erstwhile this star is available, truthful we request to beryllium reforming and reframing those time-of-use rates, similar the utilities that are governed by the California Public Utilities person done. 

"The 2nd precise wide illustration is our low-income supportive rates. We request to beryllium capable to summation the magnitude that's disposable to people, and summation the level wherever radical tin qualify. When we look astatine the mode that radical suffice and you scale it to the national poorness level, it's inappropriate to use an scale that looks astatine nationalist poorness statistic and applies it to Los Angeles, due to the fact that the outgo of surviving present is truthful overmuch higher. So, we request to beryllium rethinking not conscionable the operation of the times, but besides the supportive rates that tin assistance radical spend the vigor bills and the vigor usage that they trust connected to support their kids cool, to support the aged cool, and to supply basal services for the radical of Los Angeles."