LOS ANGELES () — Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass announced a series of measures aimed at helping L.A. Department of Water and Power customers struggling with unusually high utility bills, an issue that has emerged in the city’s mayoral race.
The announcement comes after residents reported receiving LADWP bills that were significantly higher than normal, with some customers saying their bills were roughly double their usual amounts.
Former UCLA football player Micah Reed is drawing attention on social media after sharing concerns about a costly LADWP bill.
Reed said he was shocked by a bill totaling $3,300 for two months of electricity, water and sanitation services. The largest portion of the bill was a $2,100 electricity charge.
“$3,300 for two months of power, water and sanitation charges is like three quarters of a mortgage payment and I just I don’t know how people can sustain paying these types of rates,” Reed said.
On Monday, mayoral candidate Nithya Raman held a campaign event focused on high LADWP bills. Raman unveiled a three-point plan that includes auditing LADWP, reviewing executive pay and requiring LADWP officials to appear before the City Council to explain rates.
Bass is going further, saying LADWP customers can pay what they are able to afford right now. She also asked the LADWP board to pause utility shutoffs through the end of the year for customers facing higher bills following record heat. If approved, no customer’s electricity or water service would be shut off for the remainder of the year.
The mayor is also encouraging customers to enroll in LADWP’s Level Pay Program, which averages utility costs over 12 months to provide more consistent monthly payments. Bass noted that low-income seniors and households may also qualify for assistance through the Lifeline or EZ Save programs.
“Because people are experiencing extremely high rates all over the city, and so to address the outrageous rates, I’m calling on the DWP board to look into lowering the expense. I encourage every customer now to pay whatever they can afford right now. With outrageous gasoline prices and inflation affecting everyone’s grocery bills and the cost of living, we don’t want to anyone overwhelmed by their utility bills,” Bass said.
Questions remain about how long customers may delay paying the full balance of their bills and when any outstanding amounts would be due.
Dave Hanson, interim general manager of LADWP, said that several searing heat waves and humid conditions pushed power usage to near-record levels during the summer, resulting in higher bills, particularly for customers who reach higher pricing tiers.
“I think at this time of the year, people are looking at usage. It’s not so much the rate as it is the amount of electricity that they’re using when they’re running fans, they’re running air conditioners,” Hanson said.
Reed acknowledged that his West Hills home’s air conditioning was set at 74 degrees and that a pool and electric vehicle contributed to increased energy use, but he said the overall bill remained too high.
Another customer, Patrice Berlin of Studio City, said she also experienced a dramatic increase in her utility costs.
“The whole bill was $2,700. I mean, that’s more than social security. I mean, and that’s ridiculous. I’ve lived here 30 years. I never had any increase like that,” Berlin said.
Berlin said a major portion of the increase came from water charges.
“The water alone was $2,000 and usually last year it was $103,” she said.
Berlin said an LADWP inspector tested the water meter at her home and told her she had lost the equivalent of two swimming pools of water due to an outdoor leak. However, she said her plumber and gardener found no major issues, and her next water bill returned to normal without a clear explanation for the spike.
“Something’s definitely wrong and DWP gives you no answers. They just say, sorry, that’s the way it is. So that’s not right,” Berlin said.
LADWP said it is working with Berlin to install a smart water meter that can track water use and provide alerts about possible leaks.
“There was also a significant increase on the sanitation side for trash I think it was about $75 to a $100. So add that on there plus the high usage for the summer and it’s every two months It can be a large bill,” Hanson said.
Reed believes additional factors may be contributing to rising costs and has launched a Change.org petition calling for the Los Angeles city controller to conduct an independent audit of LADWP.
“Los Angeles is a very hot place to live and it almost seems like there’s a heat tax that is on residents and I’m just a regular person, right? So it just feels like almost to the point where we’re getting price gouged,” Reed said.
Hanson defended the utility’s efforts to keep rates affordable.
“We keep very close eye with our financial service office to make sure that our rates are as affordable as possible,” he said.
According to information provided in the report, LADWP electric rates increased 7% from the previous year, while water rates declined slightly for the first half of the year. The report also noted that residents pay a 10% city utility tax on water and power use, which can contribute to higher overall bills during periods of extreme heat.
LADWP said it is working on rate reform, though no timeline for those changes was provided.
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