LADWP CEO Janisse Quiñones stepping down
Janisse Quiñones, CEO and Chief Engineer of the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power on a tour of the LADWP's biggest solar and battery storage plant, the Eland Solar and Storage Center in the Mojave Desert of Kern County on Monday, Nov. 25, 202
LOS ANGELES - Janisse Quiñones, who has served as the head of the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (LADWP) since 2024, is stepping down later this month as part of a coordinated transition plan, the Office of LA Mayor Karen Bass announced on Wednesday.
What we know:
Quiñones will officially vacate her role as CEO and Chief Engineer of the nation's largest publicly owned utility on March 27, according to a statement from Bass. She had served in the role since May 2024.
Quiñones is moving on to a leadership role in Puerto Rico, where she will apply her expertise to the ongoing transformation of the island's power grid.
What they're saying:
"Serving the people of Los Angeles has been one of the greatest honors of my professional life," said Quiñones. "I am deeply grateful to Mayor Karen Bass and the City of Los Angeles for the trust placed in me to steward essential infrastructure that supports the health, safety, and economic vitality of our communities. Los Angeles is a city defined by innovation, diversity, and resilience. It has been a privilege to serve a community that continually rises to meet its challenges."
Bass praised Quiñones for bringing "steady leadership and engineering expertise" to the department during a pivotal era for the city’s utility services.
What we don't know:
The City has not yet named a permanent or interim successor to lead the department.
The backstory:
Quiñones faced intense scrutiny from the public over the department's response during the Palisades Fire.
In Jan. 2025, Gov. Gavin Newsom called for an independent investigation into issues with Los Angeles County's water supply after firefighters battling the deadly fire struggled to get water from local fire hydrants.
"The ongoing reports of the loss of water pressure to some local fire hydrants during the fires and the reported unavailability of water supplies from the Santa Ynez Reservoir are deeply troubling to me and to the community," Newsom wrote in a letter to Quiñones. "While water supplies from local fire hydrants are not designed to extinguish wildfires over large areas, losing supplies from fire hydrants likely impaired the effort to protect some homes and evacuation corridors. We need answers to how that happened."
The Source: This report is based on an official press release issued by the City of Los Angeles and the Office of Mayor Karen Bass.