LA WATCHDOG-Over the last ten years, the Ratepayers of our Department of Water and Power have been hit up for over $40 million to fund the Joint Safety and Training Institutes, IBEW Union Bo$$ d’Arcy’s less than transparent slush funds designed to pay for his local’s pet projects, organizing activities, travel expenses, and salaries of his henchmen.
Now it is the solar lobby’s turn to tap the Ratepayers’ wallets.
On Tuesday, the politically appointed DWP Board of Commissioners unanimously approved the third round of Feed-in-Tariffs where DWP will be obligated to purchase the output from 20 megawatts of solar power for the next 20 years at the fixed rate of 15 cents per kilowatt hour. This commitment will cost DWP an estimated $109 million.
However, according to the Ratepayers Advocate, this fixed rate of 15 cents is 75% over the market price of 8.5 cents. This means that Ratepayers are going to be stuck footing the bill for an extra $45 to $50 million, all for the benefit of the politically wired solar lobby and its tax oriented investors.
Overall, the fixed price Feed-in-Tariff program for 100 megawatts of local solar power, the brain child of Mayor Villaraigosa, will end up costing the Ratepayers about $250 million more than if power were purchased at the market value of 8.5 cents, a rate that has been approved by the California Public Utilities Commission.
As an alternative, the Ratepayers Advocate recommended that DWP match the CPUC price of 8.5 cents and increase the capacity from 20 to 35 megawatts of stated capacity. So for the same amount of money, we would have 75% more solar energy and 75% more jobs would be created, facts that seemed to be lost on the Sierra Club and the other environmental advocates.
Unfortunately, Commission President Mel Levine (pictured above) did not heed the advice of the Ratepayers Advocate nor was he willing to wait two weeks until the next Board meeting to review the findings of the Ratepayers Advocate. Rather, he called for a vote to confirm the 15 cent fixed price that will slam Ratepayers for $45 to $50 million over the next 20 years.
Of course, this raises questions as to why the Garcetti appointed Board voted unanimously in favor of this fixed price alternative when it was not in the best interest of the Ratepayers, especially since there was a superior alternative.
One politically wired City Hall source suggested that Garcetti was concerned about upsetting the solar lobby that blessed Garcetti with generous campaign contributions. Another source thought that there were some in the Mayor’s office with significant conflicts of interest who want Garcetti to expand the fixed price Feed-in-Tariff program by another 500 to 750 megawatts.
One wag even speculated that Garcetti had undated, signed letters of resignation for all of the Commissioners that did not toe the party line.
DWP does not need any more controversy. It has been on the front page too many times this year, especially given that it will be requesting an over the top 25%, $1 billion increase in our water and power rates over the next four years.
Unfortunately, we have seen the departure of General Manager Ron Nichols, who, in his three years at the Department, became one of the City’s most trusted officials. Of course, this includes our Elected Elite, but then again, that is not a very high standard.
We have the on-going saga of the IBEW Union Bo$$ d’Arcy thumbing his nose at Controller Ron Galperin as Ron attempts to get greater transparency on the use of $40 million of Ratepayer money at the Joint Safety and Training Institutes.
DWP is also having major league problems with its new Customer Information System as it is churning out bills that bear no resemblance to reality, resulting in a revenue shortfall of more than $300 million.
This mess has also highlighted DWP’s abysmal customer service.
DWP is also a bureaucratic nightmare for customers who want to install solar panels as waiting periods are five times longer than in San Diego and Sacramento.
There are also ongoing issues with the $250 million IBEW Labor Premium, its restrictive work rules, and the proposed benchmarking of DWP compensation and benefit policies and the efficiency of its operations.
Ratepayers have also seen their water rates skyrocket by almost 30% due to a more than $200 million increase in purchased water from Northern California as supplies from Owens Valley have been diverted by an over-zealous regulator who has cost DWP almost $2 billion.
At its next meeting, the DWP Board of Commissioners needs to revisit the pricing of the Feed-in-Tariff program and accept the recommendations of the Ratepayers Advocate if it wants to earn the trust of the Ratepayers and the voters.
But the Feed-in-Tariff program and the fleecing of the Ratepayers for $45 to $50 million is not only an issue for the politically appointed Commissioners, but for Eric Garcetti and the City Council.
With increases in our water and power rates that will be double or triple the rate of inflation, with the City continuing to hit up Ratepayers for over $1 billion a year, with the proposed $7 billion tax increase to fund the repair of our third world streets and sidewalks, with a $250 million budget deficit, and with the upcoming recommendations of Mickey Kantor’s LA 2020 Commission, Eric Garcetti and the Herb Wesson led City Council will need the trust and confidence of the Ratepayers and voters.
As for now, who trusts City Hall?
(Jack Humphreville writes LA Watchdog for CityWatch. He is the President of the DWP Advocacy Committee, The Ratepayer Advocate for the Greater Wilshire Neighborhood Council, and a Neighborhood Council Budget Advocate. Humphreville is the publisher of the Recycler Classifieds -- www.recycler.com. He can be reached at: [email protected]. Hear Jack every Tuesday morning at 6:20 on McIntyre in the Morning, KABC Radio 790.)
-cw
CityWatch
Vol 12 Issue 15
Pub: Feb 21, 2014