Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa is moving ahead with a plan requiring customers of the Department of Water and Power to pay higher bills to help the utility tap more sources of renewable energy.
While Villaraigosa has been talking publicly about the need for the city to tighten its belt, his advisors have been working behind the scenes to gauge public support for a monthly DWP "carbon surcharge" of $2.50 -- one that would move the utility away from coal and toward wind, solar and geothermal sources of energy.
Unless the DWP secures the extra revenue, Villaraigosa will not meet his goal of having 20% of the utility's electricity come from renewable sources by Dec. 31, said former Deputy Mayor Sean Clegg, a political consultant who worked on a voter survey dealing with the issue.
"Without a carbon surcharge . . . the DWP is going to start going backwards on the renewable portfolio," he said.
Clegg said the mayor had not settled on the size of a proposed surcharge, which could be higher or lower than the $2.50 proposal included in a voter survey commissioned by the mayor. That poll, commissioned by Villaraigosa's Committee for Government Excellence and Accountability, concluded that 64% of respondents would support a $2.50 surcharge.
The results were obtained, in part, to influence the city's "opinion makers" -- including the City Council, which will probably vote on a new DWP surcharge in coming weeks.
During last year's inaugural ceremony, Villaraigosa promised to end the DWP's reliance on coal by 2020 and ensure that the agency's renewable-energy portfolio reached 40% the same year.
Since then, the mayor and council members have spent much of their time on a plan to eliminate a $484-million budget shortfall, which could result in the layoffs of thousands of city employees.
Councilwoman Jan Perry said it would be "hard to explain" why the city is scaling back on services, including road repairs and libraries, while asking DWP customers to absorb more expensive bills.
"I think this is a tough time to ask people about any increase, unless you've made a very strong case to show that you have reduced operating costs as much as possible," she said.
Villaraigosa aides have already met twice with Perry, who heads the council's Energy and Environment Committee, to discuss the process for reviewing a new surcharge on DWP bills. During those conversations, the mayor and his aides have mentioned the poll.
