Council Panel Approves Rate Increases for Water, Power

The Los Angeles City Council’s Energy and Natural Resources Committee approved Wednesday a proposal to raise utility rates for more than 1.8 million Department of Water and Power customers.

If approved by the full City Council, the action would raise water rates 4.5% and boost electricity bills by about 5.3%, while generating nearly $56 million in added revenue for the DWP.

Department officials said the increases, which would affect customers in Inyo and Mono counties, as well as those in Los Angeles, are needed to help pay for such projects as a new water filtration plant and the city’s share of electricity from a nuclear power plant project in Arizona and a coal field plant in Colorado.

Water rates also would be restructured seasonally, with higher rates in summer months to encourage conservation during that peak-use period.

City officials said the proposal would be the first such conservation effort in California and would take effect on Nov. 15.

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, DWP officials said.

Discourage Usage

Large commercial users, such as country clubs and breweries, would face larger increases. Their yearly water bills would go up 6.6%. To discourage usage, their summertime bills would climb 11%.

Councilman John Ferraro, the committee chairman, as well as committee members Joy Picus and Arthur K. Snyder, also backed a provision that would place a cap on rates charged to some of the elderly and disabled customers who are enrolled in the city’s “lifeline” program.

If lifeline consumers use less than 240 kilowatt hours of electricity monthly, the DWP rate increase cannot exceed 3.5%--this year’s Social Security benefits increase. If they use more than that amount, they would pay regular utility rates for the additional electricity. DWP officials said about 45% of the lifeline customers, who now pay about $12.17 a month for electricity, would qualify for the discounted rates.

In voting for the power rate increase, Snyder balked at the water rate plan, featuring higher rates from April through September.

Snyder said the proposal would not lead to water conservation but was merely an attempt to impress residents in Inyo and Mono counties, who have been in a bitter water dispute with the city and who have accused city officials of failing to conserve water.

“I’ll vote for this if you call it the Inyo County-Mono Lake Appeasement Rate,” said Snyder, who cast a “no” vote.

The previous DWP rate increase was last December and amounted to 4.8% for water and 3% for electricity.