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Janisse Quiñones

Chief Executive Officer and Chief Engineer

Janisse Quiñones is the Chief Executive Officer and Chief Engineer of the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (LADWP), the nation’s largest publicly-owned water and power utility.She leads the organization of more than 11,000 employees,delivering water and power to the four million residents of Los Angeles.

Ms. Quiñones has over 25 years of leadership experience as a senior executive in utility and engineering industries and joined LADWP fromPacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E), where she first served as Senior Vice President of Gas Engineering and then as Senior Vice President of Electric Operations. In the latter, she oversaw electrical system operations and the power generation fleet, as well as the management of electrical assets that support the California Independent System Operator.

Prior to PG&E, Ms. Quiñones served as the Vice President of Gas Systems Engineering for National Grid, where she managed the engineering and design of natural gas distribution, transmission and infrastructure projects for National Grid’s U.S. territory, and oversaw various meter compliance, design and construction projects.

Ms. Quiñones’ experience also includes serving in the U.S. Coast Guard (USCG), both full-time and in the reserves since the 2004, including as a Commander and as Deputy, Planning and Incident Management. She is an active USCG Reserve Officer and has held prior key leadership roles at Cobra Energy, including Vice President of Operations, responsible for the restoration and reconstruction projects of the transmission and distribution electrical systems in Puerto Rico following Hurricane Maria. She also held several leadership roles at San Diego Gas & Electric, including Director of Design, Planning, Construction and Vegetation Management.

Ms. Quiñones was born and raised in Caguas, Puerto Rico, and attended the University of Puerto Rico-Mayaguez Campus, where she graduated with a Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering (Magna Cum Laude). She holds a Master of Business Administration and a Master of Advanced Studies in International Relations and is a licensed Professional Engineer in five states. She is a proud wife and mom of five and a 14-year-old puppy.

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https://www.ladwp.com/who-we-are/executive-management/person/janisse-quinones

>>22318769

>Janisse Quiñones

"delivering water"

Why Equity is Key to Solving the Climate Emergency w/ DWP CEO & Chief Engineer Janisse Quinones

KBLA 1580

17.3K subscribers

380 views Streamed live on Jul 10, 2024 Dominique DiPrima "First Things First"

(Airdate 7/10/24) Janisse Quinones is the Chief Executive Officer and Chief Engineer for the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power. She is the first Spanish speaking and the first Latina to lead the agency. The LA DWP is partnering with KBLA Talk 1580 on a massive year-long climate justice initiative meant to amplify equity in the environmental justice space.

>>22318777

>"delivering water"

> Why Equity is Key to Solving the Climate Emergency w/ DWP CEO & Chief Engineer Janisse Quinones

>>22318769

>>22318777

>>22318786

New LADWP head to be paid $750K salary, steep increase from predecessor

Carlos Granda Image

ByCarlos Granda KABC logo

Wednesday, May 15, 2024

LOS ANGELES (KABC) – The Los Angeles City Council on Tuesday confirmed the hiring of a longtime PG&E executive to head the Department of Water and Power at an annual salary of $750,000 - a sharp increase from her predecessor.

Janisse Quiñones replaces current general manager Martin Adams, who is retiring. He was paid a salary of $435,000.

"This council will be considering many important appointments that the mayor will be making, but very few will be as consequential as this one," Council President Paul Krekorian said. "Leadership of the DWP is absolutely vital to this city.''

Quiñones previously served as senior vice president of electric operations at Pacific Gas & Electric.

Council members defended the big jump in salary as necessary to attract private-sector talent.

"Her salary without question is (nearly) doubled from her predecessor, but she comes from the private sector," said Councilmember Kevin de León. "She comes from an investor-owned utility where she could easily command twice that amount."

Last year, the City Council approved a new salary range between $435,000 to $751,000 for the general managers who oversee the city's DWP, port and airport.

In unanimously confirming her hiring Tuesday, the council backed an earlier decision by the Board of Water and Power Commissioners to offer the new general manager the maximum amount in that approved range.

The funding for her position comes from department revenues generated by its water and power customers in Los Angeles.

City officials note there are other municipal utility districts across the U.S. that pay similar salary rates, including in Sacramento and Omaha.

The change comes as the utility needs to follow new rules to produce 100% clean energy by 2035.

"For me, it's critically important that the needs of ratepayers are always at the forefront, but also making sure that the department is striking a balance and achieving the greatest amount of efficiencies," says Councilmember Monica Rodriguez.

Quiñones spoke after the vote.

"I went through a competitive process and in the competitive process, the salary was already set up by the city, so I don't really have comment other than it's reasonable compared to others in the industry," she said.

She starts her tenure immediately. The City Clerk administered the oath of office for Quiñones after the vote Tuesday. The position is officially referred to in a department statement as "chief executive officer and chief engineer."

Adams will stay on for a time to help the transition.

https://abc7.com/post/los-angeles-city-council-confirms-hiring-janisse-quinones-for-dwp/14816696/

>>22318807

Janisse Quiñones PE’s Post

View profile for Janisse Quiñones PE, graphic

Janisse Quiñones PE

CEO and Chief Engineer at Los Angeles Department of Water and Power

4mo

On Tuesday, I was one of six local Latina leaders honored at the Latina Public Service Academy’s Summer Reception, where we also celebrated the organization’s 10th year of providing leadership training to high-school Latinas.

I want to thank the Latina Public Service Academy for this incredible honor—and for all that this organization does for our community and to prepare the next generation of Latina leaders.

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My drive has been really making sure that I'm a role model for others that are coming through behind me. There's not a lot of people that look like me in the industry, especially in the utility industries. It's very lonely at the top when you're the only one. And I want to make sure that our our Latina girls and our girls in general. I mean, we've celebrated Woman's Equality Day yesterday so that that they have equal opportunities to have jobs that are technical and that are non traditional. Which I hate the work because that's a first pass of not going through if you tell a girl and you're going to a nontraditional job. And so why would I wanna do that, right? So I'm, I'm, I'm, I wear my colors, I wear my hair, my makeup to know, let the girls know you can be a girl and be in a non traditional work and own it, right. And so I'm happy to say I'm the new kid in LA. So following this amazing honorees before me is, is, is really humbling. So I, I'm very proud of being in this group of people. I'm really committed to LA and what we want to do from a, our local utility, serving our customers, making sure that equality is part of the equation, that we do things the way that need to be done the right way, that we right the wrongs that we've done in the past and that everybody has an opportunity to thrive in LA. And that's my goal. Thanks to the Latina. Public Service Academy, this event is not about us. It's about the girls that you are training. It's about the alumni that you made a difference in their lives and we need more of this.

Nadia Eghaneyan

Founder & CEO of Nexiya, Inc. WBENC & CPUC certified WBE specializing in staffing & recruiting for Utilities & Telecoms

4mo

Janisse Quiñones PE your words truly touched my heart! It's inspiring to see how you lead with such passion and commitment, especially in advocating for women in our industry. You're not just a leader; you're a beacon for so many of us striving to make a difference. Thank you for everything you do!

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4 Reactions

Renee Fraser, Ph.D.

CEO of Fraser Communications, one of the largest female-owned and led integrated advertising agencies in Southern California.

4mo

Congratulations to you and the organization for the meaningful work they do training latina leaders!

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1 Reaction

Cornelius Morgan, MS, CSP, MSP, CTSP, ASP, CHST, OHST, ASHM

Goal- oriented Senior Safety Director with 24 years of Utility Safety & Manufacturing experience developing strategies, policies, and programs to reduce workplace incidents and maintain regulatory compliance.

4mo

Well deserved and an amazing leader!

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3 Reactions

Dionne Jones-Keeton

Gas Program Manager, Expert at Pacific Gas and Electric Company

3mo

Congratulations, Janisse! You are truly inspiring. Yes, it is difficult and lonely being the only one, and in 2024, this should not be our reality. Keep bringing one, two, three, however many more women with you until the narrative of being the only one no longer exists.

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2 Reactions

Julie M. Royes

4mo

“We need more of this”. YESSSSS!!! Wonderful!

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1 Reaction

Corey Zeigler

Vice President HSE & Training Power Delivery

4mo

Great example and trailblazer.

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1 Reaction

Sheryl Brinkley, MBA, PCC, CHIC

Executive Coach & Career Acceleration Catalyst | Leader progression path into Executive & C-Suite roles | Speaker, Trainer & Facilitator | I help high performing women keep their head in the game while playing the game!

4mo

You are a light and inspiration Janisse Quiñones PE 🌟 🔥

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2 Reactions

Chloe Rose Beasley

Civil Engineering - Multi Disciplined

4mo

Beautiful words, great inspiration, thank you!!

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2 Reactions

Cazares-Olloqui, Cecilia

Director of Business Development and PR at Sentry Pacific Financial Group, and the Caretoknow.info Group; MBE Certified

3mo

Congrats Janisse! You are one of the top women leaders I know.

https://www.linkedin.com/posts/janisse-qui%C3%B1ones_on-tuesday-i-was-one-of-six-local-latina-activity-7235072009246818304-5s38

>>22318835

Bass nominates former PG&E leader Janisse Quiñones as DWP general manager

City News Service Apr 20, 2024

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Mayor Karen Bass

Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass tapped Janisse Quiñones to serve as the next general manager of the Department of Water and Power. (Photo by Mario Tama/Getty Images)

Mayor Karen Bass tapped Janisse Quiñones, senior leadership at Pacific Gas and Electric, to serve as the next general manager of the Department of Water and Power.

Bass' selection on Friday comes after a nationwide search for a new leader, prompted by the current general manager's, Martin Adams, announcement he would be retiring. Quiñones is expected to lead the department through the transition toward 100% clean energy by 2035.

The mayor's recommendation will now be referred to the Board of Water and Power Commissioners, and later to the City Council's Energy and Environment Committee, followed by a confirmation vote by the full council.

"The Department of Water and Power has made important progress toward embracing clean energy, meeting its decarbonization goals, modernizing its infrastructure to be more resilient, getting to a reliant and resilient water future and ensuring vulnerable communities have access to affordable utilities. I look forward to working with Janisse to deliver for the people of Los Angeles," Bass said in a statement.

"This is a transformational period for the department as we make decisions that will build toward the goal of 100% renewable energy by 2035 and I am confident that Janisse's experience overseeing large scale organizational operations, improving safety outcomes for workers and restoring and reconstructing electrical systems following Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico equip her to lead the department."

Bass also thanked Adams for his contributions to these outcomes and his "decades of leadership to the people of Los Angeles." While Adams had previously announced his departure by the end of March, he had agreed to stay on for a limited time to help with the transition of new leadership.

According to the mayor's office, Quiñones brings more than 25 years of leadership experience as a senior executive in utility and engineering industries where she managed large-scale operations in order to deliver reliable service to customers, prioritized the safety of workers on the job and directed improvements that made electrical infrastructure more resilient.

Quiñones called it an "honor" to be nominated by the mayor to serve as the next GM.

"Throughout my career, I have worked to make sure that communities have access to reliable, clean, safe and sustainable utilities, and I will continue with that same dedication in this role," Quiñones said in a statement. "I look forward to working closely with Mayor Bass, the Board of Water and Power Commissioners and the committed employees of the department as we move towards our commitment of 100% clean energy by 2035. Together, we can achieve our transformational goals and shore up our systems to fight climate change and deliver for the people of Los Angeles."

https://www.calonews.com/news/local-government/bass-nominates-former-pg-e-leader-janisse-qui-ones-as-dwp-general-manager/article_d64c3d48-fe72-11ee-bd22-6b7014f71f24.html

Anonymous ID: 761966 Jan. 8, 2025, 5:14 p.m. No.22318845 🗄️.is 🔗kun >>8863

>>22318840

>Bass nominates former PG&E leader Janisse Quiñones as DWP general manager

Quiñones most recently served as senior vice president of Electric Operations at Pacific Gas and Electric (PG&E), one of the largest utility companies in the United States providing natural gas and electric service to approximately 16 million people in northern and central California.

At PG&E, Quiñones was responsible for the territory's electrical system operations and the power generation fleet as well as the management of electrical assets that support the California Independent System Operator. Prior to that, she also served as senior vice president of Gas Engineering for PG&E and as the vice president of Gas Systems Engineering for National Grid, vice president of Operations for Cobra Acquisitions and Director of Design, Planning, Construction & Vegetation Management as part of her nine years of work at San Diego Gas & Electric (SDG&E) – which she started immediately after leaving full time military service.

While she has extensive experience in power companies, Quiñones also served as a commander in the U.S. Coast Guard Reserves. She was assigned to USCG District 11, and as the USCG Emergency Preparedness Liaison Officer, where she was responsible for managing local, state and federal emergencies.

Anonymous ID: 761966 Jan. 8, 2025, 5:19 p.m. No.22318863 🗄️.is 🔗kun >>8875

muh diversity

muh social justice

Los Angeles Department of Water & Power

ernsStdopo78lh,c2fma0c u6m1c52ia20741c5Jauf0082 ym9hl3i5h0fc ·

Last week, our CEO & Chief EngineerJanisse Quiñones spoke with Dominique DiPrima on KBLA TALK 1580 First Things First with Dominique DiPrima on KBLA 1580 AM about her goals for LADWP and what about LADWP makes her proud.“It’s important to me that everything we do is with an equity lens.”

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https://www.facebook.com/LADWP/videos/last-week-our-ceo-chief-engineer-janisse-qui%C3%B1ones-spoke-with-dominique-diprima-o/7997828493603833/

>>22318863

Janisse QuiñonesWomen Who SPARK 2023 Award Winner

Utility 2030 Collaborative

16 subscribers

960 views Aug 28, 2023

Interview with Janisse Quiñones, SVP of Electric Operations at PG&E. Janisse is a recipient of the Utility 2030 Women Who SPARK Awards for 2023. Listen to amazing women who not only leads 7000 employees, but takes time to be a mentor with several organizations for women and young adults.

>>22318875

> Janisse QuiñonesWomen Who SPARK 2023 Award Winner

I guess not providing water to the fire hydrants could be considered "shaking things up"

Column: DWP’s new leader wants to shake things up. It won’t be easy

DWP Chief Executive Janisse Quiñones.

(Los Angeles Department of Water and Power)

By Sammy RothClimate Columnist

June 13, 2024 6 AM PT

An honest-to-goodness map of the American West would show L.A.’s tentacles everywhere.

You’d see canals — the Los Angeles Aqueduct, running along the base of the Sierra Nevada, carrying water from the Owens River; the State Water Project, meandering through the San Joaquin Valley, supplying many Southern California cities and farms; and the Colorado River Aqueduct, cutting through the desert on its mission to deliver water from desert to coast.

You’d see electric lines too — a sprawling network of wires that over the decades have furnished Angelenos with power from coal plants in Nevada, Utah and Montana; from nuclear reactors in Arizona; and from hydropower dams in the Pacific Northwest.

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Los Angeles has reshaped the West. And the city’s Department of Water and Power has been the agent of change.

Last month, Janisse Quiñones took the helm as the agency’s new leader, after being recommended by L.A. Mayor Karen Bass and confirmed unanimously by City Council. She’s got a tough job ahead of her, with the city targeting 100% clean energy by 2035 — a decade ahead of California’s statewide goal. DWP is also trying to protect the city from climate change-fueled droughts by getting 70% of its water from local sources such as storm runoff, underground aquifers and recycling by 2035 — another huge ask.

Can we make those dreams a reality? Quiñones has been on the job less than a month, but she’s confident.

“I think we will meet both [targets]”, she told me this week at DWP’s downtown headquarters. “Ninety percent of it is attainable, and it’s going to be tough. The last 10% we might not have the answers. But I’m pretty sure we’ll get the answers.”

Quiñones comes from the private utility industry. She previously worked as senior vice president of electric operations at Pacific Gas & Electric, and before that at utilities National Grid and San Diego Gas & Electric. She also did an eight-month stint in Puerto Rico, where she grew up, helping rebuild the island’s electric grid after it was largely destroyed by Hurricane Maria in 2017.

“I was there seven days after the storm hit,” she said.

Quiñones definitely brings a private-sector mentality to DWP’s mid-century modern John Ferraro Building, where her 15th-story office offers sweeping views toward Dodger Stadium and the Hollywood Hills. In our interview, she referred to the public agency as an “engineering and construction company.” And although she’s taken on the traditional title of “chief engineer,” she won’t be called “general manager,” the other moniker bestowed on her predecessors. Instead, she’ll be DWP’s chief executive officer.

Environmental activists rally outside DWP headquarters in downtown Los Angeles in 2022.

(Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)

Some Angelenos may be skeptical about Bass bringing in a private-utility outsider to run DWP — especially one with a history at PG&E, which has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy twice this century, most recently after igniting a series of deadly wildfires.

But I came away from our conversation impressed by Quiñones, and optimistic about what she might accomplish here.

Partly that’s because of what she said when I asked her why she wanted the job.

She told me she wanted to try her hand at advancing clean power — especially for low-income communities and communities of color — specifically through public power. She said she’d come to believe that government-run utilities — despite their reputation for being slow-moving bureaucracies — can in some cases innovate more quickly than investor-owned monopolies such as PG&E and Southern California Edison, which must endure slow regulatory proceedings at the California Public Utilities Commission.

“We can try stuff faster, and fail faster, and change faster,” Quiñones said.

“We’re not reporting to the shareholders, and for profit. Everything that we do is to serve our communities,” she added.

And here’s the thing about DWP: As much as we might recoil at its shameful history of water grabs and coal combustion, we still need it to be an engineering and construction company, or we have no chance of meeting our aggressive climate goals.

Quiñones sounds ready to shake things up — at least a little bit — and accelerate clean energy development.

>>22318946

>I guess not providing water to the fire hydrants could be considered "shaking things up"

“LADWP has done incredible engineering feats and construction feats in the past. This is no different,” she said.

The municipal utility has a lot going for it — more than 11,500 employees, a $6.8-billion annual budget, a progressive mayor and City Council — even if Bass has been less focused on climate than her predecessor, Eric Garcetti — and an electricity mix that was already 53% climate-friendly as of 2022 when accounting for solar, wind, geothermal, nuclear and hydropower.

DWP also commissioned a first-of-its-kind study by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory concluding Los Angeles is capable of reaching 98% clean energy by 2030 and 100% by 2035 — without spurring blackouts or disrupting the economy. The study laid out a road map for getting there, putting DWP in the enviable position of having a detailed plan to guide its ambitions.

Still, there are obstacles. And it’s up to Quiñones to push through them.

One of the biggest challenges will be securing enough solar electricity — especially from large solar farms paired with batteries, which NREL and other experts have identified as the backbone of the energy transition — to replace coal- and gas-fired power.

Metal rows on a desert floor.

The Gemini solar project in southern Nevada, seen during the construction phase in January 2023.

(Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times)

In 2022, solar farms supplied 14% of L.A.’s electricity, much of it coming from sprawling desert facilities in Kern County, north of the city. Unfortunately, a transmission “bottleneck” on the electric lines bringing power to L.A. is making it harder to import more solar. That means DWP must build new lines and expand the capacity of existing lines — a tricky task when it can’t just steamroll landowners, conservationists and other opponents like it could in the days before the California Environmental Quality Act.

So how will Quiñones make it happen? What’s her plan for speeding up infrastructure development and leading the world toward a sustainable future in which the heat waves, wildfires, floods and droughts of the climate crisis don’t get worse and worse?

Not an easy question. I could almost see Quiñones put on her private-sector hat before answering.

“We have to enable [DWP] to move,” she said. “We’re looking at all our organizational structures. Are we set up for success? Are we empowering everybody in the organization to come up to that full potential? Are we bringing the right consultants?”

“One of my jobs is making sure that city processes don’t slow us down from a procurement perspective,” she added.

Quiñones generally avoided getting too specific when I asked her about particular energy projects that might be in DWP’s future — partly because she’s still getting up to speed on all things Los Angeles, and partly because she answers to a five-member board of commissioners appointed by the mayor, and she needs to be careful to avoid making commitments without their approval.

Any chance Los Angeles will buy electricity from a massive Wyoming wind farm being built by billionaire Crypto.com Arena owner Phil Anschutz, who’s also stringing together a 732-mile transmission line to carry the renewable energy to California?

Quiñones said she hasn’t talked with Anschutz’s team, at least not yet.

“If the project makes sense, we’ll take it,” she said.

What about offshore wind turbines, which could help keep the lights on 24/7 by producing more consistently than onshore wind farms, and by staying strong into the evening, after solar panels stop producing? Quiñones was hopeful but noncommittal.

“We look at every possibility,” she said.

Building giant infrastructure isn’t always a good idea, as Angelenos should know from their tentacle-spreading history.

Anonymous ID: 761966 Jan. 8, 2025, 5:36 p.m. No.22318966 🗄️.is 🔗kun >>8987

>>22318946

>>22318961

Solar farms, wind turbines and power lines can destroy wildlife habitat and disrupt scenic landscapes. Lithium mining for lithium-ion batteries can be similarly problematic. The less energy we use — and the more energy we supply locally — the better.

So I was encouraged that Quiñones said DWP should be helping Angelenos who put solar panels on their roofs get connected to the grid a lot faster — even if she wasn’t prepared to comment on whether incentives for rooftop solar should be higher.

I was also glad she expressed a interest in “virtual power plants” that limit the need for big renewable energy projects by linking up rooftops solar panels and home batteries and operating them in unison. Along the same lines, she suggested DWP would be moving forward with “vehicle to grid” programs that pay electric vehicle drivers to supply power to utilities in a pinch.

Crucially, she emphasized that DWP needs to bulk up its local electric grid to power more cars, heat pumps and induction stoves — vital technologies for removing heat-trapping fossil fuels from our lives. Those investments are especially time-sensitive ahead of the 2028 Olympic Games, by which time L.A. County hopes to electrify millions of homes, passenger vehicles and buses.

Sound hard? That’s because it will be. Especially with the fallout from a long-running ethics scandal continuing to cast a shadow over DWP — not that Quiñones sounded especially worried about the scandal interfering with her ability to do her job.

“I have to get my team working on a rebranding” of DWP, she said. “I hate to give 10% of the population of this company the power to destroy the reputation of the company when the other 90% are doing the right thing all the time.”

Some of the thorniest challenges facing Quiñones may involve four DWP-owned gas plants that still supply L.A. with lots of power — especially during heat waves, when Angelenos increasingly crank up their air conditioners to survive a warming planet.

Three of those gas plants lie along the coast — Scattergood near El Segundo, Harbor in Wilmington and Haynes in Long Beach. The fourth, Valley Generating Station, sits in the San Fernando Valley’s northeast corner, surrounded by Sun Valley and Pacoima communities that are mostly Latino and low-income, and whose residents breathe some of California’s most polluted air.

Garcetti thrilled clean energy advocates when he announced in 2019 that the city would abandon a DWP plan to invest billions of dollars upgrading the gas plants. That plan could have locked in decades of climate pollution and lung-damaging emissions.

But rather than preparing to shut down the facilities entirely, DWP wants to burn hydrogen instead.

That’s not necessarily bad. The agency has long said it needs reliable power plants in the L.A. Basin to lower the risk of blackouts during those nasty hot spells that are getting hotter with global warming. Like many utilities, it sees hydrogen as a nice substitute for fossil gas. And unlike some other utilities, it’s promised to use only “green” hydrogen generated via renewable power.

DWP intends to start burning a blend of 30% hydrogen and 70% gas at Scattergood by 2030, then ramp up to 100% hydrogen as technology improves — assuming technology improves. Some environmental justice advocates are worried it won’t work, leaving Los Angeles stuck burning gas — and communities around the power plants stuck breathing noxious fumes for years.

Even if the experiment works out, they’re worried hydrogen combustion can generate its own harmful air pollution. They’d prefer to see DWP go big on rooftop solar, virtual power plants and small-scale batteries as a substitute for the gas plants.

Anonymous ID: 761966 Jan. 8, 2025, 5:39 p.m. No.22318987 🗄️.is 🔗kun >>9130

>>22318946

>>22318961

>>22318966

Quiñones said she’s doubling down on efforts to listen to communities. She also defended the importance of hydrogen.

“There’s not a lot of solutions for in-basin [electricity] generation but hydrogen or carbon-capture systems,” she said, referring to devices that snare planet-warming carbon emissions at power plants. “One of the two have to be part of the equation.”

DWP is also banking on hydrogen to replace its coal-fired Intermountain Power Plant outside Delta, Utah — for decades the city’s largest power source. As of April, there were about 1,000 construction workers on site, building a gas/hydrogen plant that’s slated to open next year, replacing the coal plant. As with the local gas turbines, the goal is to transition to 100% green hydrogen.

If Los Angeles succeeds, it could help lead the world toward a brighter future — and atone for the sins of its past.

The stolen water, the hazy air blanketing national parks, the contaminated groundwater beneath Indigenous homelands — none of that will just go away. Averting future catastrophes isn’t the same as making reparations. And as I’ve noted, building renewable energy can come with its own pitfalls. Balancing solar and wind energy development with conserving ecosystems is key.

But Quiñones has an unparalleled opportunity.

DWP is the nation’s largest public utility, Los Angeles its second-largest city. But this is about way more than population. This is L.A. — a global trendsetter through TV and the movies and star culture, through our food scene, through our tech industry and cultural diversity and sports. If you can make it happen here, you can make it happen anywhere.

If Quiñones can guide Los Angeles to 100% clean energy by 2035? Maybe the rest of the world will come along.

Unfair of me to pin that on one person? Totally.

So let’s help her out.

ONE MORE THING

A Joshua tree in a desert.

A dying Joshua tree at Joshua Tree National Park in 2023.

(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)

I’ve gotten lots of vitriolic criticism for arguing in a recent column that it’s not always a terrible idea to tear down Joshua trees for solar farms, given that global warming poses such a serious threat to the desert ecosystems that Joshua trees call home.

So I appreciated this thoughtful response by environmental journalist Jonathan P. Thompson, in his excellent newsletter, the Land Desk. He agreed with my premise — that we’ll probably need to pave over some ecosystems to deal with the climate crisis, painful as that may be — while arguing that the solar project that prompted my column is being built in the wrong spot.

Totally reasonable take. This is the kind of dialogue we need to be having.

I also enjoyed talking with Columbia Journalism Review’s Kevin Lind about tensions between renewable energy and conservation. You can read the Q&A here. We also discussed strategies for journalists looking to improve their climate change coverage.

See you next week.

This column is the latest edition of Boiling Point, an email newsletter about climate change and the environment in California and the American West. You can sign up for Boiling Point here. And for more climate and environment news, follow @Sammy_Roth on X.

>>22318946

>>22318987

ANISSE QUIÑONES

Chief Executive Officer and Chief Engineer

DATE: May 10, 2024

SUBJECT: Agreement No. 47836 for Outside Investigation Services with

Nossaman, LLP

SUMMARY

The proposed Agreement No. 47836 (Agreement) is for Outside Investigation Services

for a term of five years and an amount not to exceed $750,000 (budgeted). The

Agreement is the result of a competitive process under Request for Proposal No.

90743.

The Agreement will allow LADWP to provide its employees with fair and impartial Equal

Employment Opportunity (EEO) investigations. The consultant shall conduct as-needed

investigations of employee complaints that may present a potential or actual conflict of

interest to LADWP; to address and resolve issues at the department level, and mitigate

the possibility of issues escalating to litigation against LADWP.

City Council approval is not required.

RECOMMENDATION

It is recommended that the Board of Water and Power Commissioners adopt the

attached Resolution authorizing execution of the Agreement with Nossaman, LL

>>22319130

JANISSE QUIÑONES

Chief Executive Officer and Chief Engineer

DATE: May 21, 2024

SUBJECT: Use and Maintenance Agreements with the Los Angeles County

Flood Control District for four Stormwater Capture Parks Projects

SUMMARY

LADWP is implementing the Stormwater Capture Parks Program (Program) to help

further capture and infiltrate stormwater for groundwater recharge in order to improve

future supply reliability. The Program consists of a total of nine projects that will help

capture and divert stormwater and urban runoff into subterranean infiltration galleries

located under City of Los Angeles (City) parks for infiltration into the underlying

San Fernando Groundwater Basin (SFB).

Four projects propose to divert stormwater from existing Los Angeles County Flood

Control District (District) structures and pipe connections located within District right of

way facilities (District Facilities). These projects include Whitsett Fields Park North,

Valley Plaza Park North, Valley Village Park, and David M Gonzales Recreation Center

(Projects). LADWP is required to enter into four separate Use and Maintenance

Agreements (Agreements), one for each Project, with the District. The Agreements are

part of the District issuance of the Flood Control Permits (Permits) and identify

LADWP’s responsibilities for the construction, operation, maintenance, and repair of the

Project improvements located on District property

>>22319136

Rev. 9/12/24

AGREEMENT NO. WR-24-1000 BETWEEN

THE LOS ANGELES DEPARTMENT OF WATER AND POWER AND

THE LOS ANGELES DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC WORKS BUREAU OF

SANITATION FOR THE CONSTRUCTION, OPERATION, AND

MAINTENANCE OF THE GROUNDWATER REPLENISHMENT PROJECT

>>22319160

ANISSE QUINONES

Chief Executive Officer and Chief Engineer

DATE: July 15, 2024

RESOLUTION NO. _

Aram Benyamin (Jul 25, 2024 12:01 PDT)

ARAM BENYAMIN

Chief Operating Officer

SUBJECT: Contract No. 405 for Rental of Dump Trucks with Operators - L.A.C.

Motor Enterprises, Inc.

SUMMARY

The proposed Contract No. 405 (Contract) will provide dump truck rental with operators

on an as-needed basis for a term of three years, for an estimated expenditure of

$21,122,266 and for an amount not to exceed $26,402,833 (budgeted). The contract is

the result of a competitive bid process. The estimated expiration date of the contract is

August 2027.

The rental of dump trucks with operators is a critical component of construction and

demolition projects. These trucks transport debris and associated materials, such as,

but not limited to, excavated soil, broken asphalt, roadway repairs, and improvements.

This contract supports normal and emergency operations for utility restoration,

installation, maintenance, repair, and construction of LADWP infrastructure located

locally and in Owens Valley, including capital and regulatory projects.

City Council approval is not required

Anonymous ID: 761966 Jan. 8, 2025, 6:16 p.m. No.22319237 🗄️.is 🔗kun >>9257

>>22318769

>Janisse Quiñones

>>22319174

Director, Technical Training Empowering talent to reach their full potential

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Pacific Gas and Electric Company

>>22319237

>https://www.linkedin.com/posts/roland-hammork_pge-further-strengthens-utility-leadership-activity-6783046648818995201-TWGA