By STEVE GALLUZZO | Sports Editor
Juan Fregoso, district director for Councilmember Traci Park, moderated a Virtual Builder Town Hall on August 27, attended by about 160 people, to provide updates on Los Angeles Department of Water and Power’s progress in Pacific Palisades, including undergrounding, long-term plans for Santa Ynez Reservoir, and upgrades to the water and power systems.
First, Park thanked LADWP for the additional water tenders during the duration of the area’s recent weather event.
“In coming weeks, we’ll bring DWP back to do a deeper dive into its plans to expand Distribution Station 29 at Sunset and Via De La Paz,” Park stated. “DS-104 near Marquez Elementary is no longer under consideration in large part because of the upgrades DWP is planning to make at the other location. We’ll also do a webinar on the Sunset/Via De La Paz water rehab station in the near future.”
Regarding the water systems, Senior Assistant General Manager Anselmo Collins gave a progress report on the Santa Ynez Reservoir, which returned to service June 25.
“The reservoir is operational,” Collins confirmed while showing slides of the floating cover before and after the filling. “The reservoir has, on average, 65 million gallons, over 40 feet of water, below the cover. The reason we need to have this cover is that we’re required to comply with federal state regulations for water quality. First to protect finished water from contamination because it is exposed to the environment—animals, birds or anything that can get into the water—and second to protect from infection byproducts. This is why we use chloramine (chlorine mixed with ammonia) and why we operate it in the range of 54 and 75 million gallons.”
The board approved a contract for a company to design a new floating cover, Collins said.
“They’ll start on it in September, and we expect them to complete it by close to the end of the year,” Collins said. “It’s a short-term solution we want to implement because we recognize the existing cover is compromised.”
Collins added that they are looking at permanent solutions, such as putting a hard cover over the reservoir like an aluminum roof or a concrete cover; replacing the reservoir with tanks in the same location or nearby; or building a treatment facility that would make the need for a floating cover unnecessary.
“If everything goes accordingly, we believe we can have the reservoir with a brand new floating cover as early as August 2026,” he said.
The next topic was water service reconnections, and for properties with existing plumbing, LADWP recommended hiring a licensed plumber to verify the plumbing system is working properly and there are no leaks in the system.
“If your house or business has damage, we advise you to replace the plumbing from the back of the meter all the way to the house because the integrity of the main line is likely compromised,” Collins explained. “For properties without existing plumbing, get a licensed plumber to install all the piping and connect to the meter. Once you’re ready to connect, call DWP to activate the meter. Once your water service is reconnected we recommend flushing your plumbing system for approximately 10 minutes at each fixture.”
Next, a presentation on power systems was made by Senior Assistant General Manager David Hanson, who reported on the conduit and trenching work on Sunset Boulevard. Hanson reported that 99,832 linear feet of electrical conduit/pipe had been installed, 32 vaults had been set (structures are 9.5 feet tall, 13.5 feet wide and 17.5 feet long), and 1.65 miles of trench had been constructed by August 24.
Asked when LADWP would be in the residential areas for undergrounding, Hanson said the tentative schedule is the third quarter of 2026.
“In the meantime, we’re asking builders to set a meter panel and run a three-inch PVC line out to the front of the property (minimum of three-foot depth),” he said. “All the material you need will cost $300 to $350. Maximum length of the run is 120 feet. Anything longer than that the engineers will have to review.”
As to when one should request a building clearance from LADWP, Hanson explained if there is a structure that gets closer than 15 feet of existing power lines—such as a balcony in the backyard—an Encroachment Application must be submitted, after which a pole spotter will check it out and coordinate with the customer for approval.
For residential properties, Hanson laid out the following timeline: The customer submits plans online prior to the start of construction; LADWP staff receives plans, creates work order and assigns project to the ESR; ESR reviews plans and schedules Meter Spot with the customer at the project site (two to three weeks); ESR conducts Meter Spot and provides construction requirements to the customer; ESR inspects customer construction and completes LADWP meter release, LADBS inspection and release is completed; LADWP crews install overhead service and energize the meter.
Chief Customer Officer Joseph Ramallo provided a billing update, confirming that monthly commercial accounts began receiving bills at the end of July while bi-monthly billing for residential accounts began at the end of August.
“Customers won’t be billed for any water consumption between their last meter read before the fire and their next meter read,” Ramallo said. “We cleaned the meter boxes. We’re now at the point where we’re reading meters and sending bills out for residential customers in the Palisades.”
In terms of electric meters, customers will be billed for usage from their last meter read date (December 2024/January 2025) through the next actual read date, which will conclude when water meter reading resumes. There is a three billing cycle limit for residential properties and a six billing cycle limit for commercial properties.
Palisadians can choose a pilot program called HOME LA for residential and multi-family low-rise construction, designed to help make electrification of appliances more affordable. The $40 million program over four years can be applied for online or on paper. It includes space heating and cooling, cooking, water heating, clothes drying, and bonus measures.
One of Park’s constituents wondered about the plan to place above ground transformers at every eight to 10 houses when other sections of the Palisades that already have underground power have transformers in vaults underground.
“We have design standards we use to install everything,” Hanson said. “As it stands right now what we’ve told everybody is that we can’t switch in underground vaults. We wouldn’t put a switch underground and we’d put the transformer above ground. As we start to meet with the vendors we’re finding there are solutions that we may be able to put our switches underground and actually switch them from above ground. As far as the transformer going above ground, that area has a tendency for the underground substructures to fill up with water, so we’re meeting with vendors to see what’s available out there and we’re meeting with fellow utilities to see what they’re doing with their 12,000-volt transformers and if we can figure out a way to put everything underground, we will.”
Should above-ground boxes be required, a questioner asked, when will residents find out where these boxes will be located and would they be in parkways or on residential lots?
“The earliest we think we’d be beginning construction—and it’s a tentative date obviously—is the third quarter of 2026,” Hanson said. “The design is happening now so as soon as we have the design we’re going to send that information to the community so people can see where the overlays are for where we will need to place these individual transformers.”
A full recording of the webinar is available at youtube.com/watch?v=Yjt5EM0fFn4.
