Janisse Quiñones, the CEO and chief engineer of the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (LADWP), focused extensively on diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) and climate initiatives at the department before finding herself in hot water for its response to the ongoing fires that have devastated the Los Angeles area.
Quiñones got the top job at LADWP in 2024, landing a $750,000 salary and promising to “shore up our systems to fight climate change” while the LADWP touted her commitment to chasing its goal of “supporting strategies and policies that lead with equity.” Now, her department is the subject of a major lawsuit alleging that it failed to properly manage the city’s water systems before fire hydrants ran out of water in some of the hardest-hit locales as the fires exploded into a full-scale disaster.
Before she began working for LADWP in May 2024, Quiñones worked as a senior vice president for Pacific Gas and Electric’s (PG&E) electric operations and gas engineering departments between April 2021 and December 2023, per her LinkedIn profile. PG&E has had its own struggles with infrastructure maintenance in recent years, including energized conductors that started the 2021 Dixie Fire after being hit by a falling tree.
“I’ve been involved in operations, engineering, customer service, gas, electricity, and now water. I’ve run water energy efficiency projects, vegetation management, and wildfire mitigation programs,” Quiñones said in a December 2024 interview.
Quiñones’ compensation package at LADWP is nearly twice as large as that of her predecessor because city officials wanted to attract top-flight talent from the private sector, according to ABC7. Notably, eight of the ten highest-paid officials in Los Angeles in 2023 worked for LADWP.
However, the department appears to have flunked the major test presented by the L.A. fires, which are still burning more than a week after they began.
“Among other failures, the Santa Ynez Reservoir, a 117-million-gallon water storage complex that is part of the Los Angeles water supply system, was empty, leaving fire crews little to no water to fight the Palisades Fire. The Santa Ynez Reservoir had been out of commission since February of 2024, awaiting repairs to its cover,” reads the complaint filed against Quiñones’ department. “LADWP made the conscious decision not to timely repair the Santa Ynez Reservoir cover, leaving the reservoir drained and unusable, all as a ‘cost-saving’ measure. With the Santa Ynez Reservoir out of commission, hydrants in Pacific Palisades failed after three (3) tanks each holding one million gallons of water went dry within a span of 12 hours.”
The lawsuit was filed by Palisades residents and a business owner who lost their homes and place of business in the blazes.
Independent journalist Michael Shellenberger reported Sunday that an unnamed former utility professional with decades of experience told Shellenberger that the reservoir should not have been out of commission given the known risks of wildfires breaking out in Southern California in January.
“The person I spoke with has worked as a senior professional in a California water utility for two decades. The person told Public that the LADWP should never have drained the Santa Ynez reservoir of water,” Shellenberger wrote. “Instead, it should have kept it full for emergency use, and only drained it to repair a torn cover after the fire risk was far lower and after LADWP had a contractor under contract and ready to perform necessary repairs.”
Moreover, purported Los Angeles Fire Department sources told Daily Mail that LADWP was aware before the fires that there were malfunctioning fire hydrants in the city, but did not take quick enough action to address the problem sufficiently before disaster struck.
However, LADWP contends that “any assertion that fire hydrants in the Pacific Palisades were broken before the Palisades fire is misleading and false” and that “LADWP was required to take the Santa Ynez Reservoir out of service to meet safe drinking water regulations.” A spokesperson for LADWP also referred the DCNF to a YouTube video explaining the failure of fire hydrants.
Quiñones stated and suggested multiple times that DEI would be a priority for LADWP under her leadership, saying in a July 2024 interview that she views LADWP’s work through a so-called “equity lens.” The LADWP press release announcing Quiñones’ hiring noted that she is the first Latina to run the department, adding that the department would pursue policies that “lead with equity” on her watch.
Additionally, LADWP joined with KBLA — a Los Angeles radio station — in 2024 to help launch KBLA’s $2 million, year-long “climate campaign” aimed at minority listeners, according to Los Angeles Daily News. Quiñones made the “equity lens” remark while being interviewed on KBLA’s airwaves.
Other old documents and news stories also help shed light on the priorities of Quiñones and LADWP.
“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,” reads a June 2024 Los Angeles Times story about Quiñones.
Moreover, an August 2024 LADWP document describing the ideal candidate for the department’s chief strategy and sustainability officer (CSSO) role states that LADWP is “at the forefront of the clean energy transition” and “committed to fostering sustainable and equitable growth for our communities and customers.” The document states that the CSSO would report directly to Quiñones.
“We are seeking a visionary and dynamic Chief Strategy and Sustainability Officer (CSSO) to lead our efforts in shaping and executing our sustainability strategies and driving innovation in our narrative around clean energy,” the document states. “The CSSO will report directly to LADWP’s Chief Executive Officer and Chief Engineer, and will be responsible for managing the staff and overseeing the operations and activities of the Sustainability and Environmental groups, including the corporate sustainability report; cap and trade; Green House Gas emission reporting; Federal grants team; Low Carbon Fuel Standard credit proceeds; and corporate strategy, including electrification strategies, hydrogen, LA 100, equity strategies, and Electrical Vehicle / Voluntary Protection Programs / Vehicle to Grid programs.”
As of Friday afternoon, at least 27 people are confirmed to have perished in the blazes, according to CBS News. The fires have also caused immense destruction, with some estimates projecting that the fires may end up causing tens of billions of dollars’ worth of damage when all is said and done.
Democratic California Gov. Gavin Newsom — who has also been criticized for policy decisions of his own in the lead-up to the fires — announced on Jan. 10 that he would like to see a full, independent investigation examining how fire hydrants ran dry.
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