UPDATE: True to form, DWP General Manager David Nahai issued a smiley face statement about the latest screwup which continued under his watch as president of the utility's board and went to trial for six weeks last year, adding millions to the overall cost. "We are pleased to have fashioned an agreement which will enable energy
efficiency improvements and overall lowered energy usage for the
plaintiffs in this action. We can also
take comfort in the fact that the involved parties are government
entities whose constituents are largely LADWP customers. That the
beneficiaries of this settlement serve the residents of the city and
County of Los Angeles was a prime factor for LADWP to enter settlement
negotiations."
Now you know what your DWP rate hikes are going for and why so many more are coming:
You have to pay for the incompetence and dishonesty of your officials.
A settlement was announced today between lawyers for various government agencies and the Department of Water Power which had to admit it had cheated them for a decade and will have to pay them $160 million. Or more precisely, you will have to pay them.
That's 10 times what DWP officials claim it will cost extra to give its workers a whopping 5.9 percent pay raise in the middle of the worst recession in a generation.
In June 2007, Superior Court Judge John P. Wade ruled that DWP had inflated its electric bills to governmental customers going back to 1998 by a total of $223.8 million because it charged them more than a share of the capital costs needed to generate electricity in proportion to the share of the plant's output they used.
Use 5 percent of the plant's electricity, pay 5 percent of what it cost to build. That was the rule. That was the law. But DWP plays by its own rules and charged a lot more than that.
"This settlement will give back to the school district and our other
clients some much-needed funds," said Eric R. Havian, a San Francisco
attorney with Phillips & Cohen LLP, which is representing all the non-State
agencies. "We are pleased that the matter was resolved without the need for
further litigation."
So here's the windfall coming to local agencies:
* Los Angeles Unified School District -- $67.7 million
* Los Angeles County -- $32.3 million
* Metropolitan Transportation Authority-- $28.1 million
* State agencies -- $22.3 million
* Los Angeles Community College District -- $5.58 million
* University of California at Los Angeles -- $3.8 million.
Now you know what your DWP rate hikes are going for and why so many more are coming:
You have to pay for the incompetence and dishonesty of your officials.
A settlement was announced today between lawyers for various government agencies and the Department of Water Power which had to admit it had cheated them for a decade and will have to pay them $160 million. Or more precisely, you will have to pay them.
That's 10 times what DWP officials claim it will cost extra to give its workers a whopping 5.9 percent pay raise in the middle of the worst recession in a generation.
In June 2007, Superior Court Judge John P. Wade ruled that DWP had inflated its electric bills to governmental customers going back to 1998 by a total of $223.8 million because it charged them more than a share of the capital costs needed to generate electricity in proportion to the share of the plant's output they used.
Use 5 percent of the plant's electricity, pay 5 percent of what it cost to build. That was the rule. That was the law. But DWP plays by its own rules and charged a lot more than that.
"This settlement will give back to the school district and our other
clients some much-needed funds," said Eric R. Havian, a San Francisco
attorney with Phillips & Cohen LLP, which is representing all the non-State
agencies. "We are pleased that the matter was resolved without the need for
further litigation."
So here's the windfall coming to local agencies:
* Los Angeles Unified School District -- $67.7 million
* Los Angeles County -- $32.3 million
* Metropolitan Transportation Authority-- $28.1 million
* State agencies -- $22.3 million
* Los Angeles Community College District -- $5.58 million
* University of California at Los Angeles -- $3.8 million.
Ron Kaye is the former editor of the Los Angeles Daily News where he spent 23 years helping to make the newspaper the voice of the San Fernando Valley and fighting for a city government that serves the people and not special interests.
Twice in recent years, Los Angeles Magazine listed Kaye among the city’s most influential people, specifically in the area of politics. Kaye has been variously described in the media as the “accidental anarchist,” “the Patrick Henry of the San Fernando Valley” and a “passionate populist.” He is now committed to
carrying on his crusade for a greater Los Angeles as an ordinary citizen. Previously, Ron worked at the Los Angeles Herald Examiner,
Associated Press, Cleveland Plain Dealer and The Australian as well as papers
in Fairbanks, Alaska and Yakima, Wash. He also wrote for Newsweek magazine, The Guardian in London and the National Enquirer.
Guess LAUSD doesn't need that bond on the ballot any longer, then.
Attorney General Brown wins $160 million DWP refund and we will pay for it. More proof why the Mayor, DWP GM Nahai and all members of the board of commissioners except Commissioner Nick Patsaouras do not want a ratepayer advocate. Nick Pastsaouras knows their is fraud, abuse and mismanagement and the rest of the board are afraid of more discovery and lawsuits. It would be of no surprise if the Mayor and DWP GM Nahai try to show Pastsaouras the exit. Right now he is the ratepayers only hope.