Not sure if you remember the days last year when the L.A. Department of Water and Power held City Hall's wallet hostage over its insistence on a rate hike. The department told the City Council that if it didn't get its increase, it wouldn't be sending over its scheduled allotment of cash to the general coffers. (Who's running this Chinatown, anyway)?

Or maybe you'll recall Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa's earlier attempt to lobby, under the guise of greening up the department, for another massive rate increase.

Apparently the folks at Business Insider do:

Because they just named the DWP one of “The 19 Most Hated Companies in America.”

Yay. Crack the champagne, Mayor V. You can add another feather to a cap that already includes some of the worst roads in the nation and a crap-tacular school system that you failed to change much (godspeed, man).

Here's what the Insider had to say about our illustrious DWP (number 13!):

Consumers claim the LADWP is intentionally issuing bills late in order to collect hundreds of thousands of dollars in late fees.

The LADWP is also seeking to raise electric and water rates for their consumers in order to afford the new renewable energy commitment set forth by the city of Los Angeles. If approved – it will be up to the Los Angeles City Council – increases in charges for consumers would hike to more than 15 percent for water and 16 percent for power over the next three years.

There you go, City Hall. If you didn't know that people have been reading between the lines, now you do.

[@dennisjromero/djromero@laweekly.com]

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