Jan. 20--The board that oversees the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power on Tuesday approved a plan to increase power rates in a move that it said was necessary to meet a slew of energy-related mandates and repair the city's degrading power infrastructure.
If approved by the City Council, the rate hike would result in a system-wide 3.86% average annual rate increase and generate about $720 million over the next five years, DWP said.
Agency officials say "typical" residential customers would see an even smaller change -- a 1.56% annual increase to their monthly power bill. The city's ratepayer advocate said bills for many of those customers would jump about $4 in the first year and a cumulative total of $12 by June of 2020.
Board President Mel Levine said it would be "irresponsible" for City Council members to vote against the proposed power rate increase in the weeks to come.
"You would be voting to tell the citizens of Los Angeles that we are not going to comply with mandates that we have no choice but to comply with, and that we're going to allow blackouts to continue," Levine said.
The board's 5-0 vote supporting the power rate increase came about a month after the board endorsed a similar water rate hike.
Ratepayer Advocate Fred Pickel issued a report Friday calling the power rate increase "reasonable." On Monday, Mayor Eric Garcetti announced his support, calling the increase "critical to modernizing our aging electricity grid and bringing our power system into the 21st century."
DWP officials said they hope to have the rate ordinance in front of the City Council by mid-February and in effect by April 1.
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