The Los Angeles Department of Water and Power’s governing board voted unanimously Tuesday to suspend residential utility shutoffs through the end of the year and develop recommendations to update its electricity rate structure amid complaints about soaring bills.
The resolution did not authorize an independent audit of LADWP’s rate structure, which Mayor Karen Bass requested Monday. The Mayor’s Office told SCNG after the meeting that the audit is separate from Tuesday’s resolution and that Bass expects the board to begin the process of recruiting an independent auditor.
The 3-0 vote came after residents described bills reaching hundreds or thousands of dollars and questioned whether their charges were accurate.
The resolution directs LADWP to suspend water and electricity disconnections for residential customers who fail to pay their bills through the remainder of 2026. It also instructs staff to review the utility’s electricity rate ordinance and recommend changes to pricing tiers, seasonal rates and other charges.
Commission President Allan T. Marks acknowledged that the rate structure needs reform. He said the existing rate structure, which took effect in 2016, was outdated.
“Our rate ordinance is out of date,” Marks said during the meeting.
He explained that while LADWP must recover the cost of providing electricity, its rate structure determines how those costs are distributed among customers, making rate reform a question of fairness.
The Los Angeles City Council would ultimately have to approve changes to the rate ordinance.
He also acknowledged that the billing controversy has raised fundamental questions about whether customers can trust the utility, including concerns about meter accuracy, billing practices and surcharges.
LADWP officials have said they have not identified a systemic billing or metering problem.
The resolution also calls for greater outreach about existing energy-efficiency rebates, low-income assistance and Level Pay, a program that spreads customers’ estimated annual utility costs into more predictable monthly payments.
The measures do not forgive outstanding bills or immediately lower electricity rates.
Bass had asked commissioners to go further, calling for an outside, independent audit examining how LADWP calculates its rates and bills customers. She also urged the utility to consider incentives or automatic enrollment in Level Pay and to increase energy-efficiency rebates by 25%.
A representative from the Mayor’s Office reiterated those requests during Tuesday’s public comment period.
Marks expressed support for an independent review but suggested it should be initiated by someone other than the commission to ensure its independence.
“The audit one is easy, because, yes, we should have an independent audit, but if I call for it, that’s not very independent. So, we need someone else to do that, but I support it,” he said.
Marks also drew a distinction between the type of audit Bass is seeking and the financial audits and other oversight reviews LADWP already undergoes.
“But a number of the things that have been called for, including by the Mayor’s Office with respect to audits, are not just audits of our financial operations, and they’re not just looking at our strategies, like the controller might do,” Marks said. “They’re looking at the rates and the rate structures.”
Marks welcomed additional scrutiny but noted that LADWP would have to pay for any outside audit, meaning its costs would ultimately be borne by ratepayers.
The Mayor’s Office told SCNG Monday that LADWP would fund the proposed audit and that the cost would not affect the city’s general fund.
The question of who should conduct an examination of LADWP’s rates — and whether an outside audit is necessary — has prompted disagreement at City Hall.
City Controller Kenneth Mejia said Monday evening that his office had begun examining LADWP’s rates earlier this month and was exploring its own audit or assessment. He argued that the city should support the Controller’s Office, which serves as an independent watchdog, rather than spend money on an outside firm.
“If the Mayor is serious about continuous transparency and accountability on our tax dollars, she should fund the independent watchdog elected by the people, instead of spending millions on outside companies that are not beholden to the people of Los Angeles,” Mejia said in a statement.
Residents who attended Tuesday’s meeting said the need for scrutiny was urgent.
Micah Reed, who said his family received a $3,322 utility bill, told commissioners that a petition he launched Oct. 1 had gathered more than 39,000 signatures. The petition calls for an independent audit of LADWP’s rates and charges, changes to electricity rate tiers during summer heat, monthly billing options and protections against utility shutoffs.
“I am not here to argue about how much power my family used. I am here, because I can’t tell how my bill was calculated,” Reed said. “There are adjustment charges on it that no customer can check, and no one has been able to show me the math.”
“Calling for an audit isn’t the same as doing one,” he added.
Reed asked who would conduct the audit, when it would begin and whether the results would be public.
A Park La Brea resident said her family’s utility bill for a two-bedroom apartment had climbed from roughly $150 to nearly $900 despite little change in electricity use. LADWP officials offered to review her bill. Staff were also urged to investigate similar complaints from other residents of the community.
Utility officials have attributed much of the recent increase in bills to unusually hot weather, greater electricity consumption and a tiered rate structure that charges customers more as they use more power.
Marks said electricity rates themselves had risen about 7% over the past year, primarily because of investments in system reliability.
Tim O’Connor, executive director and ratepayer advocate for the Office of Public Accountability, called the resolution an important step but urged commissioners to go further, recommending stronger low-income assistance, better access to electricity usage information and greater oversight of utility spending.
He also urged LADWP to establish measurable goals to track customer savings, program participation and the effectiveness of its investments.
Marks asked LADWP management to report back in the first quarter of 2027 on whether the measures had helped customers, what the utility had learned about unusually high bills and how the changes affected billing, collections and its ability to cover costs.