FUSE Executive Fellow | Aligning Utility Transformation with Ratepayer Affordability and Equity

The City of Los Angeles’ Office of Public Accountability (OPA) is working to ensure that large-scale utility modernization and infrastructure investments deliver affordability, transparency, and equitable benefits for ratepayers, particularly those most vulnerable to rising energy and water costs. The FUSE Executive Fellow will help OPA strengthen customer-centered oversight by advancing economic analysis, affordability program evaluation, and benefits realization strategies tied to major infrastructure investments. This has the potential to be a two-year fellowship, with Year One focused on discovery, strategy development, and foundational analysis, and Year Two (if desired) focused on deepening implementation influence, scaling effective solutions, and embedding durable oversight practices within OPA.Fellowship Dates: October 26, 2026 – October 22, 2027Salary: Executive Fellows are FUSE employees and receive an annual salary of $95,000. Fellows can also access various health, dental, and vision insurance benefits. This amount is not representative of market-rate salaries for the experienced professionals in our program but is intended as compensation for a year of public service.ABOUT THE FUSE EXECUTIVE FELLOWSHIPFUSE is a national nonprofit dedicated to increasing the capacity of local governments to work more effectively for communities. We embed private sector executives in city and county agencies to lead projects that improve public services and accelerate systems change. Since 2012, FUSE has led over 400 projects in 58 governments across 26 states, impacting a total population equivalent to 1 in 10 Americans.PROJECT BACKGROUNDStrategic utility oversight is critical to ensuring that large-scale infrastructure investments translate into affordability, transparency, and long-term community resilience. These investments directly shape residents’ cost of living and access to essential services. However, when utility transformation prioritizes system expansion and utility operations benefits without equitably centering customer benefits, affordability pressures can intensify. These challenges disproportionately affect low- and moderate-income households, communities of color, seniors on fixed incomes, and small businesses, who already experience higher energy and water cost burdens and are more vulnerable to rate increases.The Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (LADWP) is the nation’s largest municipal utility, providing water and electricity to roughly 4 million residents and a quarter million businesses in Los Angeles. LADWP is at a critical juncture, with several massive initiatives on the horizon, such as achieving a 100% clean energy power supply by 2035 (LA100), multi-billion-dollar water system upgrades, advanced meter deployment, and rate redesign. The City of Los Angeles established the Office of Public Accountability (OPA) to provide independent oversight and economic analysis of LADWP. As the Ratepayer Advocate, the OPA evaluates the reasonableness of, and provides transparency for LADWP policies, budgets, and rate proposals.PROJECT APPROACHBeginning in Fall 2026, the FUSE Executive Fellow will work with OPA to strengthen the analytical and strategic foundation of utility oversight during a period of major infrastructure transformation. The fellow will help OPA evaluate and translate complex utility investments, rate decisions, and customer programs into clear, customer-centered recommendations and strategies that prioritize affordability, transparency, and measurable ratepayer benefits. The fellow’s work will focus on aligning economic analysis, program design, and policy advocacy to ensure that large-scale utility modernization delivers equitable and durable outcomes for Los Angeles residents.The fellow will begin with a 90-day period of in-depth discovery and assessment. During this phase, the fellow will conduct a comprehensive listening and learning tour with OPA leadership and staff, representatives from LADWP, Mayor’s Office, and City Council staff, relevant City departments, technical consultants, and community stakeholders. This process will surface insights into current rate design considerations, advanced meter deployment plans, affordability program challenges, legal constraints, and political dynamics shaping decision-making.The fellow will conduct a landscape analysis reviewing LADWP budgets, LA100 modeling inputs, advanced meter implementation strategies, affordability program documentation, prior OPA reports, and relevant legal frameworks. In parallel, the fellow will research best practices from peer municipal utilities that have advanced customer-centered benefits realization, affordability program reform, and equitable rate strategies.Drawing on insights from the discovery phase, the fellow will develop refined project goals, priority focus areas, and anticipated Year One deliverables and present them for review and approval by OPA leadership.The fellow will then focus on advancing Year One strategies that translate analysis into action. A central workstream will support advanced meter benefits realization by developing economic frameworks that quantify customer savings, assess deployment sequencing, and identify policy levers that strengthen affordability outcomes. The fellow will collaborate with OPA staff and external technical partners to analyze data, evaluate cost-benefit scenarios, and translate findings into advocacy-ready reports and decision-support materials. A second major workstream will focus on affordability program portfolio analysis, including evaluating program effectiveness, identifying structural access barriers, benchmarking peer utilities, and recommending refinements that improve customer experience and targeted support for underserved communities.The fellow will help develop practical tools and repeatable processes that strengthen OPA’s long-term capacity, while also providing OPA with additional capability to support informed decision-making by the LADWP Board of Commissioners. This may include establishing standardized evaluation frameworks, outlining benefits realization metrics, developing performance dashboards, and creating structured templates for future program assessments. Where appropriate, the fellow may support early implementation-oriented efforts that test analytical models, pilot performance metrics, or inform near-term policy decisions, while remaining responsive to emerging priorities.By the end of Year One, the fellow will have helped establish a stronger analytical infrastructure within OPA, improved clarity around customer-centered benefits of major utility investments, and enhanced capacity to evaluate and influence affordability programs. The fellow and OPA leadership will collaborate to define more specific goals, measurable impact targets, and scope for the second year of the fellowship, informed by lessons learned and early progress.The second year (if desired) will then focus on deepening implementation influence, scaling effective affordability and benefits realization strategies, and embedding durable analytical practices within OPA’s oversight model.EXPECTED DELIVERABLESBy Fall 2027, the FUSE Executive Fellow is expected to have:Developed an Advanced Meter Benefits Realization Framework – Worked with OPA leadership, LADWP staff, and technical partners to define and quantify customer-centered benefits associated with advanced meter deployment.Produced an Affordability Program Portfolio Assessment – In collaboration with OPA staff and contractors, conducted a comprehensive evaluation of LADWP’s customer-facing programs, assessing cost-effectiveness, accessibility, customer experience, and equity impacts, and identifying recommendations for refinement, consolidation, or targeted expansion.Delivered Utility Investment and Rate Impact Analyses – Generated clear, advocacy-ready economic analyses of major utility investments, rate proposals, or emerging policy questions, translating complex technical modeling into actionable insights.Designed Standardized Evaluation Tools and Performance Metrics – Established repeatable analytical frameworks, dashboards, and reporting templates to strengthen OPA’s long-term capacity to evaluate infrastructure investments, program performance, and ratepayer impacts.Established Foundational Knowledge Transfer Resources – Produced documentation, synthesis materials, and internal guidance tools that support sustained oversight, inform Year Two implementation priorities, and strengthen continuity within OPA’s small team.KEY STAKEHOLDERSExecutive Sponsor – Timothy O’Connor, Executive Director, Office of Public AccountabilityProject Supervisor – Edith Moreno, Deputy Executive Director, Office of Public AccountabilityQUALIFICATIONSSynthesizes complex information into clear and concise recommendations and action-oriented implementation plans.Develops and effectively implements both strategic and operational project management plans.Generates innovative, data-driven, and result-oriented solutions to complex challenges.Respond quickly to changing ideas, responsibilities, expectations, trends, strategies, and other processes.Communicates effectively verbally and in writing and excels in active listening and conversing.Fosters collaboration across multiple constituencies to support more effective decision-making.Establishes and maintains strong relationships with diverse stakeholders, both inside and outside of government, particularly community-based relationships.Embraces differing viewpoints and implements strategies to find common ground. Demonstrates confidence and professional diplomacy while effectively interacting with individuals at all levels of various organizations.