DWP RATE HIKE RILES RESIDENTS COUNCIL DEMANDS DATA BEFORE VOTE.

Byline: RICK ORLOV

Staff Writer

A proposed DWP rate hike is drawing an outcry from grass-roots neighborhood councils as the giant utility defends itself over recent power outages that left thousands of Los Angeles residents sweltering amid a summer heat wave.

While Department of Water and Power officials are seeking a 9 percent boost to pay for upgrades to a rapidly aging electric system, a neighborhood council oversight panel is opposing the move and questioning the high pay of DWP workers and the limited time available to review the potential impact of a rate hike.

Members also wonder why a rate hike is needed when the utility transfers about $200 million each year to the city's general fund.

"We have specific concerns over how large the rate increase really is and the impact on residents," said Jack Humphreville, a member of the neighborhood councils' DWP oversight committee.

Humphreville also said the agency has not been responsive to neighborhood council suggestions.

"We proposed they have a separate ratepayer advocate office, similar to the proposal that Mayor (Antonio) Villaraigosa made during his campaign, and they just don't answer us," Humphreville said.

The opposition comes as DWP officials on Wednesday told a City Council panel that high demand and staffing shortages have left the DWP unable to keep up with replacing faulty and aging transformers.

"In 1992, we had 11,200 workers," said Brian D'Arcy, business manger of IBEW Local 18, which represents DWP workers. "Today, in 2007, we have 8,100 and 40 percent are nearing retirement age.

"We have over 8,000 giant bank transformers at substations that need replacement and the agency tells us they will replace two a year. Do the math. That means these won't all be replaced for 4,000 years."

The hearing -- the first of what will be a monthly series -- was prompted by last week's heat wave in which more than 60,000 customers were without power for up to three days.

Better prepared?

In a similar heat wave last year, more than 80,000 customers lost power and DWP officials vowed the utility would be better prepared in the future.

D'Arcy and DWP officials said Wednesday they are trying to better analyze future energy demands and said the 9 percent power rate increase would allow the utility to hire 750 more people needed to deal with the demands.

"How many other utilities or businesses go 15 years without a rate increase?" D'Arcy asked.

But council members were skeptical.

"We don't know if this is just a money problem," Councilwoman Jan Perry said. "I have to be convinced that it is needed before we go ahead and approve a rate increase. It would be easy to say, let's spend more to solve a problem, when we don't have the details of what the problem is."

Perry said she wants detailed information next month on what work is required, the number of workers needed and any other details the utility or the union can provide.

"The problem is, we don't have the basic information we need to make a decision," Perry said. "Getting information from the DWP is like pulling teeth without anesthesia."

Councilman Tony Cardenas noted that Los Angeles' residential power rates are as much as 40 percent below that of neighboring cities, but council President Eric Garcetti and Councilwoman Wendy Greuel said they were concerned about whether they could trust the agency.

"Last year, we were told that the heat wave we experienced was an anomaly and we would be better prepared this year," Garcetti said. "Yet we weren't. It is not my style and I take no personal joy in bashing a department.

"But we are on the front line and get calls from people who want to know what happened. If we can't get the information, imagine how frustrating it is for the public."

Restoring trust

Greuel, in whose district two people appear to have died because they feared the costs of running their air conditioner, said the DWP needs to do more public outreach.

David Nahai, president of the board of Water and Power Commissioners, said he agreed that the agency must take steps to restore trust with the public and with public officials.

"Trust is the most important thing we have," Nahai said, who added that the board is pushing to expand the DWP's workforce as well as promote programs to reduce energy use.

In June, the DWP board adopted a $4 billion budget that includes a five- year, $1 billion upgrade program for the utility, along with the rate increase.

The increase still must be approved by the neighborhood councils and the full City Council before taking effect.

The most recent problems for DWP have developed while the agency's general manager, Ron Deaton, is recuperating from a heart attack while vacationing in Costa Rica. Assistant General Manager Robert Rozanski has been temporarily in charge.

Officials said there has been no estimate on when, or if, Deaton will return to the job.

D'Arcy, who released a videotape earlier this year warning of the pending problems, said he has been trying to convince the DWP to change some of its practices.

He said the civil service system needs to be reformed to make it easier to hire and train workers. Hiring has remained an issue since the DWP downsized under former Mayor Richard Riordan amid concern about energy deregulation and competition from private energy firms.

Workers, however, are among the highest paid in the city. Trainees start at $64,900 a year and experienced workers can begin at more than $80,000 a year.

Staff Writer Beth Barrett contributed to this report.

rick.orlov(at)dailynews.com

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