The infuriating city of Los Angeles is deploying yet another idiotic policy that will raise the cost of electricity, while advertising that residents may beg the same government for a merciful intervention to lower their bills.
The city-owned Los Angeles Department of Water and Power is galloping ahead with an all-clean-power plan that it estimates will raise the monthly electric bill of an average customer using 500 kilowatt hours (kWh) per month from $120 in 2025 to $320 in 2035, and to $355 in 2045.
Meet the LA100 Plan. It’s designed to reduce carbon emissions from LADWP electricity generation to zero by 2035. That’s 10 years earlier than the state mandate of zero-carbon electricity by 2045.
In August, LADWP’s “Planning and Innovation Division” held a “2027 LA100 Plan” kick-off meeting with its advisory group, made up of people who can’t do anything to stop this. The presentation at the meeting included a slide showing electricity rates in Los Angeles shooting upward like the track of a roller coaster that is too insanely dangerous to ever be allowed off the drawing board.
Rising from a per-kWh rate of 23.8 cents in 2025, the projected price under the LA100 Plan jumps to 44.1 in 2030, 64.2 in 2035 and 71.1 in 2045.
If the LADWP wasn’t doing the LA100 Plan and was complying only with the state’s slower carbon-free-by-2045 mandate, the 2025 retail rates would go up less, to 37.8 in 2030, 45.5 in 2035, and 51.9 in 2045.
For comparison, if all the carbon-free mandates were dumped, the 2025 rates with 2.5% inflation would be 26.9 in 2030, 30.5 in 2035 and 39.0 in 2045.
The carbon-free mandates have been promulgated with great fanfare as an essential centerpiece of the state’s fight against climate change. Nobody announced the higher costs with any fanfare, so this may be the first you’ve heard of what’s ahead for Los Angeles DWP customers.
LADWP bills are already crushing people in Los Angeles, groaning under the weight of higher water rates, sewer rates and trash fees. Various climate-related mandates contribute to those costs, too, as green preening takes precedence over affordability.
The city-owned utility will allow residents to plead their case for relief at an event it’s calling “Customer Support Saturday.” On November 21 from 9:00 a.m. until 2:00 p.m., LADWP customers can “come for a one-on-one consultation on ways to save water, power and money!” (the exclamation point keeps it cheerful) at the Crenshaw, North Hills and Watts customer service centers.
There are three different programs for assistance with high bills. EZ-SAVE offers low-income discounts. For customers who would prefer monthly billing to the shock-and-awe of getting the bad news every two months, there’s LEVEL PAY. Seniors and disabled individuals may qualify for the LIFELINE discount.
If you go, here’s what to bring with you to enroll: proof of age, proof of income, proof of disability, your LADWP bill, your gas bill and your telephone bill.
This humiliating ritual is the product of our vain and narcissistic government officials, who prefer posing for pictures at climate conferences to managing the day-to-day operations of government. Their mindless pronouncements are handed off to people in appointed or staff positions, where the work of implementing policies to achieve pointless goals pays very well, and no government employee would want to say anything to jeopardize that employment.
The incoming governor is playing this game, too. In response to voters’ concerns about the high cost of their energy bills, Xavier Becerra proposed a “power hour” to give low-income families two hours of free electricity during the middle of the day. Really? If they turn over their financial documents they can leave work to run their appliances?
For the record, the global climate is unaffected by reductions of greenhouse gases in California, never mind Los Angeles. Climate zealots change the subject to air pollution when that’s pointed out. But remember, you’re not paying for the LA100 plan to improve the air quality from 1970 levels. You’re paying to supposedly improve it from today’s much better levels.
And it could take us backwards.
The LA100 plan should be stopped before half the city converts to candles and propane.
Write Susan@SusanShelley.com and follow her on X @Susan_Shelley