Almost two years after the Palisades fire destroyed nearly 7,000 homes. LADWP has been working with the community to restore the city to its former glory. Several complaints from Palisades residents rebuilding their homes have led to Dave Hanson apologizing on behalf of LADWP for delays.
Nine out of 10 homeowners planned to rebuild after the fires. 1,000 houses are currently being constructed as of August 2026.
The administrative procedure and trouble communicating with the department has impacted the building process.
Many Palisades residents constructing their homes again express concerns about power not being supplied to both people rebuilding their homes or those who have already and need electricity for lighting and other household requirements.
“My deep apologies to everybody that’s had to deal with any sort of a delay on the account of DWP,” said Dave Hanson, Interim General Manager at WDP, according to a report by ABC7 Eyewitness News.
He added that the inspection-requested workload was larger than their current staff pool, and they had to dispatch people from the valley. Five or six additional inspectors were hired for the Palisades specifically since they were originally bringing workers in from the valley.
Hanson also mentioned difficulties relocating the Palisades home base three times. They finally established themselves on land they own, which will help work toward their goal of achieving underground power back to the Palisades by 2031.
The LADWP launched a customer portal last week, which will aid property owners with their compliance checklist.
“When I’m talking to a customer that I know just wants to go home and I’m the reason they can’t go home, I do take that personal,” said Hanson to ABC7 Eyewitness News.
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