Los Angeles Department Of Water And Power

Residents can begin the New Year by learning about water conservation at a community seminar and pick up a free low-flush toilet in the process. St. Peter and St. Paul Church and the Asian American Drug Abuse Program will host the event Jan. 10 from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the church, 515 W. Opp St. Low-flush toilets will be given to homeowners who can show a current Department of Water and Power bill and valid identification, drug abuse program director Del Sakamoto said.

Even with the recent batch of rainstorms, the ongoing drought has grown so severe that Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa on Monday called for increased citywide water restrictions and the adoption of a tiered water rate that would punish Department of Water and Power customers who fail to conserve. Sprinkler use would be restricted to two days a week under the proposal and, by summer, could be cut to one day a week if the drought continues, Villaraigosa said.

After nearly two years of fending off criticism from ratepayers and his own employees, H. David Nahai stepped down Friday as head of the nation's largest municipally owned utility, the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power. Nahai, 56, said in a letter to Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa that he would leave immediately to take a position as an advisor to former President Clinton's climate initiative to battle global warming. But well before he announced his new job, the Iranian-born environmentalist and attorney found himself under fire on several fronts.

A mistake on a single bundle of wires Monday cascaded into a major blackout in and around Los Angeles, inconveniencing millions of people and renewing questions about the vulnerability of the region's power system. Coming one day after a purported Al Qaeda threat of attack on the city, the midday outage pricked nerves and caused isolated incidents of panic. Plumes of flame and smoke heightened the drama as refineries, temporarily shut by the outage, flared off excess gases.

A top executive hired to run day-to-day operations at the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power has come under fire as the latest example of the revolving door between city government and businesses that seek lucrative public contracts. Before returning to the DWP in December after a six-year absence, Raman Raj, who earns $247,000 annually as the utility's chief operating officer, worked most of last year as a consultant for at least three DWP contractors.

Even as Los Angeles police officers go without raises, the City Council moved ahead with a plan Friday to give employees of the Department of Water and Power pay increases ranging from 2% to 4% in each of the next five years. Three hours after it approved a two-year contract with the Police Protective League that offers no salary increases, the council forwarded the pay-raise package to members of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 18 for ratification. City Administrative Officer Miguel Santana, the top budget official, refused to comment on the agreement.

Los Angeles officials said the city may abandon plans to build a highly controversial "green" power transmission line through unspoiled desert and wildlife preserves on a route east of the San Bernardino Mountains, focusing instead on alternative pathways mostly along an interstate highway where high-voltage lines already exist. The Department of Water and Power's proposed 85-mile-long Green Path North transmission line has faced fierce opposition from more than a dozen community and environmental groups, creating a political chink in Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa's efforts to cast himself as the leader of the "cleanest, greenest big city in America."

The Los Angeles Department of Water and Power board approved rate hikes Tuesday for residential and commercial customers that would increase electricity costs about 9% and water charges about 6% by July 2009. The bimonthly cost for average residential customers would rise about $14.50. Monthly bills for medium-sized businesses would increase about $1,043. The increase in the base rate is the first approved by the DWP board in 15 years.

When the Los Angeles City Council gave preliminary approval to electrical and water rate hikes last week, the debate focused almost exclusively on a series of modest, single-digit increases planned between now and summer 2009. In reality, electricity bills will go up at least 23% over a four-year period, thanks to the Department of Water and Power's decision to ask ratepayers to absorb the higher cost of natural gas and the switch to other environmentally friendly forms of energy.

The California Energy Commission on Wednesday imposed new rules that effectively forbid the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power and all other municipal utilities in the state from signing new contracts with coal-fired power plants. The move, together with identical regulations imposed on private utilities in January, is a significant step toward reducing the contribution of California, the world's sixth largest economy, to global warming.

First it was silver ore that streamed to Los Angeles from the rim of the Owens Valley, then the water from the valley floor. Now, L.A. has come back for the sunshine. The Los Angeles Department of Water and Power, the agency responsible for turning Owens Lake into a dusty salt flat and snatching up nearly every acre from Lone Pine to Bishop, has its sights on transforming the Owens Valley into one of largest sources of solar power in America. Interim DWP Chief S. David Freeman says the valley on the dry side of the Sierra Nevada is blessed with the "best sun in the country."

Customers of Southern California Edison and California's other big investor-owned utilities won't see a refund on their bills from the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power -- but they'll be getting $113 million in relief just the same. The DWP was accused by the three big utilities and state agencies of overcharging for electricity during the energy crisis that hit California and other Western states in 2000 and 2001. The L.A. utility, however, wasn't paid, as complaints worked their way through the regulatory and legal process.

Los Angeles city officials are drafting a master plan for a proposed solar farm and possibly a state park on Owens Lake, drained nearly a century ago when its water was diverted to the Los Angeles Aqueduct, officials said Thursday. Representatives with the Department of Water and Power disclosed the concept when they appeared before the California State Lands Commission, which has regulatory authority over the dusty lake bed near Lone Pine. Commission members, meeting in San Diego, said they were intrigued by the idea but remain wary because of the DWP's history of using its ample political power to get its way and not cooperate with the state panel.

The Los Angeles Department of Water and Power announced Tuesday that it has shelved plans for a 970-acre solar farm near the Salton Sea, just as members of the City Council signaled that they were unprepared to support the project. The DWP's interim general manager, S. David Freeman, said he was troubled by the costs of the 55-megawatt project, which had been slated to go up on land purchased by the utility in 2006. Freeman made his comments moments after Councilwoman Jan Perry, who heads the council's Energy and the Environment Committee, said she planned to send the solar project back to the DWP for more work.

A five-year package of raises being offered to employees of the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power could put a major burden on the utility's retirement system, according to a report prepared by the city's top budget official. The agreement, which contains five consecutive increases for DWP employees, could cause the utility's yearly pension contribution to increase by more than 150% by 2014, according to the confidential report, a copy of which was obtained by The Times. The DWP sets aside 30 cents for its pension expenses for every dollar it spends on salaries, City Administrative Officer Miguel Santana wrote in his report.

Even as Los Angeles police officers go without raises, the City Council moved ahead with a plan Friday to give employees of the Department of Water and Power pay increases ranging from 2% to 4% in each of the next five years. Three hours after it approved a two-year contract with the Police Protective League that offers no salary increases, the council forwarded the pay-raise package to members of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 18 for ratification. City Administrative Officer Miguel Santana, the top budget official, refused to comment on the agreement.

The push to create an in-house ratepayer advocate at the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power gained new momentum Friday with a majority of the Los Angeles City Council saying that the proposal's time has come. Although the DWP and representatives of Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa have resisted the idea for months, a succession of rate hikes and an $82,000 consulting contract with departing DWP General Manager H. David Nahai may have turned the tide, council members said. Council President Eric Garcetti, known for smoothing over disputes between council members and the mayor, submitted a proposal Friday calling for a ratepayer advocate.

Los Angeles city officials have released the terms of the controversial consulting contract for the former general manager of the Department of Water and Power, H. David Nahai, who resigned this month. Under the three-month contract, Nahai can earn a maximum of $82,000 to "provide consulting services and provide knowledge transfer relating to issues that arose during his tenure as chief executive officer and general manager." Nahai is required to make himself available by phone or e-mail during normal work hours.

Officials at the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power plan to give a consulting contract to the agency's outgoing general manager that would pay him the same salary he earned as its top executive. Days after he resigned, H. David Nahai is slated to receive nearly $6,300 per week as a consultant to the utility. The DWP commission, whose five members are appointed by Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, is scheduled to meet Tuesday to discuss the plan. DWP commission President Lee Kanon Alpert said he asked Nahai to stay on as a consultant for the rest of the year.

After nearly two years of fending off criticism from ratepayers and his own employees, H. David Nahai stepped down Friday as head of the nation's largest municipally owned utility, the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power. Nahai, 56, said in a letter to Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa that he would leave immediately to take a position as an advisor to former President Clinton's climate initiative to battle global warming. But well before he announced his new job, the Iranian-born environmentalist and attorney found himself under fire on several fronts.