A 4.8 percent rate increase that was approved by the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (LADWP) Board on April 15 will now be permanent after the Los Angeles City Council failed to come to a consensus Tuesday on whether to block the increase.

The city council voted 9-5 to assert control and block the LADWP Board’s increase, but needed a two-thirds majority, as stipulated in the City Charter. The rate hike will now go into effect on July 1.

The rate increase is controversial because several members of the council said they believed the rate hike was temporary, and would only be in effect for three months, at which time the council could reconsider the increase. The increase raises the cost for customers from 5.09 cents per kilowatt-hour to 5.69 cents per kilowatt-hour.

Los Angeles City Councilmember Paul Koretz, 5th District, said the information the LADWP Board provided to the city council did not clearly indicate the rate increase was permanent.

“We passed a previous motion stating that rate increase should be temporary and then it was forwarded to the DWP. The discussion was all about a temporary rate increase. What the DWP passed was slightly different, allowing for a permanent increase, and nobody caught it. It is just one more bizarre step in a completely bizarre process.”

The motion to assert control over the LADWP Board’s decision was authored by City Councilmember Jan Perry, 9th District. The motion came one vote short of passing. City Councilmember Bernard Parks was not in council chambers for the vote because he had been previously excused to attend the funeral of former Los Angeles Police Chief Daryl Gates and other functions, and had not been made aware that there was a vote being held on the motion to assert control over the LADWP decision. Dennis Gleason, a spokesperson for Parks, said the councilman has consistently been opposed to the LADWP rate hikes, and would have voted to block the LADWP Board’s decision.

City Council President Eric Garcetti, 13th District, said he realized that the rate increase was permanent, but added that there will be opportunities to prevent the LADWP Board from increasing the rates again in September.

“The council will have another opportunity to stop any proposed increase if we do not think it is necessary, or if the DWP hasn’t improved its transparency and accountability,” Garcetti said.

City Councilman Tom LaBonge, 4th District, voted to block the rate increase because he said it was not appropriate at this time.

“I didn’t feel there was enough outreach to the public during this process,” LaBonge said. “I didn’t support this rate increase in council.”

Perry, who is the chairperson of the Energy and Environment Committee, said she plans to work more closely with the LADWP in the future to establish a process that will address the problems over rate increases. She added that although there was confusion over the rate increase proposal, she is confident the problem can be fixed.

“Regardless of [Tuesday’s] outcome, I believe we set the record straight,” Perry said. “I intend to move forward on a long term plan with all parties to stop this piecemeal solution and create a real plan. I look forward to engaging in this discussion with our interim [LADWP] general manager, Austin Beutner, and my colleagues.”