Background

The Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (LADWP) was transforming its electricity grid and resource systems in 2021 to meet decarbonization goals established by the State of California, the City of Los Angeles, and the company itself to deliver 100% clean energy by 2035. This venture requires a series of extensive upgrades and new builds along the transmission and distribution system, achievable only through the hiring, training, and retention of qualified personnel over the next decade.

LADWP gathered a team of leading industry experts, including Energeia, to develop an Integrated Human Resources Plan (IHRP) to realize this transition and prepare its workforce to efficiently and effectively deliver the LA100 program.

Services

Energeia, alongside our partners, AECOM and Grid Focus, was contracted to identify the personnel needs associated with long-term power system planning and implement a plan to ramp up the hiring and training of these personnel in accordance with LA100 goals.

To do so, Energeia conducted a thorough review and analysis of current staffing levels, vacancies, and projected needs within the eleven divisions within the Power System section of the organization. Energeia also engaged with senior personnel within each division to obtain LADWP’s qualitative and quantitative feedback on the IHRP process and projected staffing capacity.

Results

Energeia incorporated feedback and data from each Power System division to model annual personnel needs by division through 2032. Energeia reported these results for each of the eleven divisions under four different power system buildout scenarios while also accounting for current hiring and training constraints. Key findings included the identification of three roles that are severely constrained due to training capacity. The identified gap between new hires and projected needs is expected to grow without changes to the current training process.

The broader consulting team subsequently identified areas of improvement within the current hiring and training processes to deliver more qualified personnel, sooner.

Outcome

Phase 1 of the Integrated Human Resources Plan results were presented to the LADWP Board of Commissioners on Oct 25, 2022 (see timestamp 56:26), and discussions are currently being held regarding a revamping of the hiring and training processes in accordance with the consulting team’s recommendations. Energeia will continue to support LADWP throughout the iterative IHRP process as LADWP works to provide affordable, equitable, and reliable clean energy to all customers.