Board of Water, Power Seeks 2nd Rate Hike in Year
The Los Angeles City Board of Water and Power on Thursday approved a rate increase of 4.5% for water customers and 5.3% for electricity users--its second proposed rate hike in the last year.
If approved by the City Council and the mayor, the new rates will go into effect Nov. 15 and will raise $56 million in added revenues from Department of Water and Power customers in Los Angeles, Inyo and Mono counties, according to board President Jack W. Leeney.
The proposed increases would add 56 cents a month to the average residential water bill of $14.36 and $1.27 to the average residential electric bill of $28.65. However, rate hikes for senior citizens and disabled “lifeline” customers would not exceed 3.5%.
The last DWP rate increases took effect in December. The DWP serves 1.2 million electricity users and 631,000 water customers.
Department officials said the new round of rate increases would help pay for building a water filtration plant in Sylmar.
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