LA Department of Water and Power in Crisis

Since 1994, when DWP workers won kudos for their timely response to the Northridge earthquake, the DWP has reduced critical staff to the point where basic maintenance and updating of the system goes undone. Furthermore, the DWP has not updated its equipment, the average age of which is 60 years old, twice its expected lifespan. The DWP has also failed to take steps to deal with increased demands for both water and power because of the growth of population in the City of Los Angeles. The result is a system that is unable to deal with a prolonged heat wave, like that in the summer of 2006, let alone a terrorist attack, an earthquake, or other catastrophe.

• Category

  News & Politics

[metermatch]

This video is partially true, but largly slanted baloney for someones' political agenda. And yes, I work for the Department (Hydro Generation). So you want more power??? Try to get more transmission lines past the red tape of environmentalists, tree huggers, NIMBYS, etc!!!!

[h2opower]

It's high time for an Energy Revolution. The current system is a system of energy enslavement and it can't handle the demand. With the new technology the control of power is in the hands of the consumer and energy is generated at the point of consumption on demand. No more power outages, no more electric bills, and no power instability. youtube.com/watch?v=1TrF9ansrm­A Learn how this can be done and support their efforts for a better more reliable future.

[crv423]

This is biased toward the union!

[chewsuzzername4m3]

Was this when Enron was screwing us?

[Baronstone]

Thats not it, they are under pressure to do more with less since the city takes more and more of their budget away. The price of water and electric is fine. What needs to happen is that the city has to give back the budget it will take to upgrade/replace the existing system instead of spending more and more money on social programs.

[mustange550]

Where do they get the money. People complain when their water and electric bill goes up. So the alternative is leave your shit in crap ass condition and then when the services goes out, then you say you know maybe its not so bad.

[frontosa6]

I have no sympathy for folks down in LA. They choose to live in the desert and on a fault line. They choose to live with water uncertainty. When Northern CA needs all of the delta's water... bye bye SoCal.

[SACKTECH]

1.Attend a Board meeting. Bring asprin and NoDoze.

2. Ask the L.A. Times to investigate the Board's $88 million dollar screw up on their own Wind Farm project.

3. LADWP gets it's income from "rate payers"...not taxing...rich or poor. You use, you pay. Waste is from the bureaucratic poop. Starts at top.

4. Why is half their aging truck fleet parked or in the shop waiting for parts? Tow trucks will be needed to drasg them to next "Northridge" event.

[WTFNTZSJ]

corruption wins... just wait until the whole thing blows.