LADWP gets new leader as LA City Council confirms David Wright

The Los Angeles City Council on Tuesday confirmed David Wright as the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power’s newest general manager.

The council confirmed his post 13-0, with councilmen Felipe Fuentes and Mike Bonin absent from the vote.

Wright, 56, was already serving as the utility’s interim general manager following DPW head Marcie Edwards’ resignation last month.

A Riverside resident, Wright joined the DWP in early 2015 to focus on the utility’s flawed billing system and improvements to customer service. Previously, he led the Riverside Public Utilities and serving as chief financial officer for the Las Vegas Valley Water District, the Southern Nevada Water Authority and the Silver State Energy Association.

Wright will earn $350,000 a year in his post. He declined the use of a driver to pick him up each day from his home, which is standard courtesy for DWP general managers, said utility spokesman Joseph Ramallo.

Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti said in a statement Tuesday one of Wright’s first tasks will be to create a “customer bill of rights” to provide specific service guarantees.

A May report by the American Customer Service Index ranked the DWP as the worst municipal utility in the nation for customer satisfaction. The utility placed 67 out of a 100, dropping by a point this year, according to the ACSI report.