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A deeply divided Los Angeles City Council on Tuesday backed increases in electric rates, acknowledging that they will be painful for customers but insisting that the hikes are needed to maintain the Department of Water and Power\u2019s financial health.<\/p>\n
The council\u2019s decision capped months of debate and political maneuvering — as well as an outcry from L.A. residents and business owners who say they already pay enough for electricity.<\/p>\n
Revenues from the rate hike would go in part to environmental initiatives backed by the mayor, including renewable energy contracts and more aggressive conservation programs. Without the hike, the Department of Water and Power said it could have its bond rating downgraded. <\/p>\n
The fee structure backed by the council would increase electric rates 4.5% for both residential and business ratepayers. That would generate a quarter less revenue than what the mayor proposed over the next three months. <\/p>\n
\nAfter the vote, Villaraigosa said he had \u201cserious reservations\u201d about the council\u2019s action, adding that revenues generated from the rate hike would not be enough for the DWP to pay for expenses as well as his environmental programs. <\/p>\n
A significant concern is the fluctuating cost of coal, which makes up 44% of the DWP\u2019s power.
\nWhile the mayor\u2019s fee hike proposal has won praise from environmentalists, it has come under withering criticism from business interests and ratepayer activists who say the city should not be charging more during an economic downturn. <\/p>\n
City Council members Tuesday said they were sensitive to these concerns and tried to do what they could to lessen the blow.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
\u201cPeople are worried to death about their next bill,\u201d said Councilman Bill Rosendahl. \u201cI\u2019ve had more people come up to me in the last two weeks and say, \u2018Councilman, for God\u2019s sake. I can\u2019t take another hit.\u2019 " <\/p>\n
The lowered fee increases were approved on an 8-to-6 vote, with some in the minority saying they could not support any increases in electric rates.
\nTuesday\u2019s showdown is considered the first act in a series of electric rate hikes the mayor is proposing, which would increase residential bills anywhere from 9% to 28% over a 12-month period. <\/p>\n
The council\u2019s action signals that Villariagosa is going to have a fight on his hands.
\nThe rate issue has put the mayor at odds with some L.A. business interests at a time when Villaraigosa has vowed to refocus his administration on job creation. <\/p>\n
The mayor and DWP argue that rate hike will create 18,000 \u201cgreen jobs\u201d over the next decade. Critics, however, dispute that number and worry that other jobs will be lost. <\/p>\n
\u201cThe DWP proposal is the wrong idea at the wrong economic time,\u201d said Estela Lopez, executive director of the Central City East Assn., a business group with 1,800 members. <\/p>\n
Some environmentalists immediately bashed the council\u2019s decision to reduce the size of the rate hike. <\/p>\n
\u201cThe funding for renewable energy and energy efficiency programs that was approved today is insufficient to move us forward on the goal of getting off coal,\u201d said Sierra Club regional representative Evan Gillespie. <\/p>\n
— David Zahniser and Maeve Reston<\/p>\n
Photo: L.A. Times file<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
A deeply divided Los Angeles City Council on Tuesday backed increases in electric rates, acknowledging that they will be painful for customers but insisting that the hikes are needed to maintain the Department of Water and Power\u2019s financial health. The council\u2019s decision capped months of debate and political maneuvering — as well as an outcry […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4131,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-491392","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/491392","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4131"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=491392"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/491392\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=491392"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=491392"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=491392"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}