Which Way, L.A.?
LA DWP Proposes Rate Hike amid Billing Issues
In the next five years Los Angeles will have to start repairing its crumbling infrastructure by raising utility rates. The DWP has a history of reckless spending and customer billing scandals. Can ratepayers trust it to do the billion-dollar-plus job? How much would you pay to improve LA's aging infrastructure?
By Barbara Bogaev • • 24m ListenThe Los Angeles Department of Water and Power has taken its first step toward a rate hike. DWP staff is drawing up a plan for water and power rate increases to raise some of the $1.3 billion it says is needed to address aging infrastructure, including failing water pipes and an outdated electricity grid. But why should the city trust the DWP to act responsibly with customer's money when a recent audit cited "cavalier" spending, and the agency has been plagued by a customer billing scandal? Barbara Bogaev guest hosts.
Photo: A man watches as spills from a water main that broke near UCLA on July 30, 2014.