Los Angeles water and power department reviews 2025 accomplishments, lays out 2026 priorities

The Los Angeles Department of Water and Power presented a report on Jan. 20 to the City Committee on Energy and Environment summarizing 2025 achievements and outlining priorities for 2026, stressing safety, decarbonization, water recycling and workforce challenges.

The department’s presenter said the utility ‘‘Servimos como más de 4000000 clientes’’ and described an organization-wide push on safety analytics, cloud migration for business systems and a new program of customer supports. The presentation listed staffing levels of 12,500 employees and stated implementation of 56% of 19 targeted improvement initiatives. The presenter also described a budget figure in the report as stated by staff.

Why it matters: The city’s combined water and power utility manages infrastructure and supply that affect millions of Los Angeles residents. The department told the committee it is pursuing coordinated investments to reduce wildfire and heat‑wave risks, expand renewable supply and storage, and ramp up water recycling ahead of long‑term regulatory milestones.

Key details and claims made at the meeting: • Grid and generation: Department staff said the utility is moving toward a cleaner grid with a rising share of solar and storage and is negotiating a new power‑purchase agreement (PPA) to secure additional clean energy supply. "Estamos negociando... un nuevo PPA," the presenter said. • Water recycling: The department described the "agua pura" project as a major water‑recycling effort and gave a capacity figure in the report as stated by staff (presenter: "será 230000 galones" as presented). The presenter said the department has also expanded other water‑capture efforts. • Safety and security: The presentation emphasized a safety‑first approach, a recent safety week, and new cyber and physical security work with external partners including the FBI to improve resilience. • Customer programs and equity: The department cited COVID‑era customer assistance funds distributed to accounts and pilot programs to expand access and equity; EV rebate ranges were described in the presentation as "$500 hasta $4,000" for certain programs. • Hiring and delivery constraints: Staff said hiring is a limiting factor: the presentation included the need for thousands of workers (presenter referenced needing "4000 personas") and said the hiring process has taken more than 300 days in places. Staff told the committee centralizing project ownership and dedicated resources are part of the plan to cut handoffs and accelerate delivery.

Questions and follow‑up: Committee members pressed staff on project permitting delays, charter authority for procurement and purchase thresholds, and plans for specific generation units and valley transmission timing. The presenter said a single point of project ownership and new hires are being implemented and agreed to return in approximately six to seven months with updates.

What the committee decided: The committee accepted the report and recorded that "No necesitamos tener ninguna ninguna acción sobre este punto"; no formal policy action or vote on the report itself was requested.

The department gave multiple numerical figures during the presentation. Where staff phrased figures in the report (for example budget and some capacity numbers), the article reports those figures as stated in the presentation. If a number was unclear in the presentation, it is described here as reported by staff rather than independently verified.

The committee scheduled no immediate action but invited the department to return later in the year with a progress update.