LA Watchdog
Who is watching cash-register politics in the second largest city in America? No one, judging by the size of the city’s perpetual scandals, including massive over-billing problems and sweet heart deals at the City’s Department of Water and Power.
The indifference of public officials to Angelenos’ made us angry. That’s why we’ve created LA Watchdog: to expose, confront and change the corruption at City Hall and DWP.
What got us going was how LADWP stumbled ineptly through a massive overbilling scandal, threats to shut off the power of innocent victims, and sweetheart deals to settle the dispute. Consumer Watchdog jumped into the fray to publicize the stories of consumers harmed by the utility’s callous disregard. By exposing DWP’s outrageous conduct, Consumer Watchdog opened Angelenos eyes to a self-dealing DWP power-grab initiative on the November 2016 ballot, Measure RRR, which went down to defeat.
LA Watchdog will expose DWP outrages and other corruption in Los Angeles government and work to fix them.
New Report: LADWP’s Ratepayer Advocate Is Costing Angelenos Nearly $7 Billion Extra And Should Be Fired
Santa Monica, CA — Instead of pushing the country’s largest municipal utility to be leaner, greener, and meaner, Fred Pickel, the first ratepayer advocate ever appointed to protect the interests of LADWP ratepayers, has fallen down on the job. A new report, “The Price of Pickel” by Consumer Watchdog, finds that his failure to speak up for ratepayers against unreasonable rate hikes and bad projects is costing ratepayers nearly $7 billion.
For the report, click here.
Lawyers Get The Dough And DWP Ratepayers Get The Shaft, Sound Familiar?
A Superior Court Judge today approved a settlement of a class action lawsuit brought against the Department of Water & Power (DWP) and City of Los Angeles for illegally taxing ratepayers billions of dollars on their power bills and using it for city services, rejecting our objection. Under 2010’s voter-approved Prop 26, money raised from power rates that is not used to improve utility service is an illegal tax and to make it lega
Consumer Watchdog Challenges City Attorney Mike Feuer To Stand Up For LA Ratepayers Not Politicians In DWP Transfer Case To Be Heard Wednesday
Santa Monica, CA — Consumer Watchdog has urged LA City Attorney Mike Feuer to oppose a deceptive and inadequate Notice to ratepayers in a class action settlement over the transfer of hundreds of millions of dollars in power rates to City coffers.
Wildfires Should Ignite Crackdown on State Farm To Be Better Neighbor
The wildfires devastating Bel Air, Ventura and Southern California's canyons are destroying homes in their path. Unfortunately, many of those homeowners are going to find that when they try to rebuild their homeowners' policies may not cover the real costs.
It's a sad cycle that happens after too many wildfires, include the historic devastation fires wrought recently in Sonoma and Napa Valley.
DWP Rubberstamps $242 Million Tuesday Takeaway from Ratepayers In Violation Of Their Rights
Santa Monica, CA -- Today’s vote by the Board of Water and Power Commissioners for LADWP to transfer $242 million in ratepayer money to the City’s coffers is an illegal tax that should be either rebated or plowed into the LADWP’s electric infrastructure, said Consumer Watchdog and LADWP Advocacy Committee President Jack Humphreville.
Consumer Watchdog said that it was exploring legal options to have a court prevent the money from being taken from ratepayers to fill a city budget hole rather than for utility services.
Consumer Watchdog Decries LADWP Transfer Of $242 Million From Ratepayers To City Budget Without Voter Approval
Santa Monica, CA — The Board of Water and Power Commissioners for LADWP has put on its agenda a Tuesday vote to transfer nearly $242 million from “surplus” power rates — overcharges to ratepayers — to fill a hole in the city budget without voter approval at the ballot box.
Consumer Watchdog said such a so-called “transfer fee” should be illegal under Prop 26, which requires voter approval for such fees because they are really taxes.
Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti Just Sold Los Angeles Down The Aqueduct
Mayor Eric Garcetti just sold out Los Angeles by pushing through the Delta Tunnels. Two of his five appointees to the Metropolitan Water District (MWD), the giant water wholesaler for the region, voted yes on diverting water from the Sacramento River under the San Francisco Bay Delta to the South, helping to ensure an overwhelming majority vote.
