Energy consultant offered DWP job

Ron Nichols, managing director of the energy practice at Navigant Consulting in Seattle, is Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa's pick to run the utility, and he was already making the rounds at City Hall this morning, reports the LAT. Councilman Herb Wesson says that Nichols would serve as a "nonpolitical" executive for the DWP. "He won't try to play the politics, and that might be the breath of fresh air the department needs," Wesson tell the Times.

If Nichols is approved by council members, he will take the post at a time of political tensions between the nation's largest municipally owned utility and ratepayers, business leaders and various elected city officials. The DWP had a bruising rate fight with the City Council earlier this year, one that nearly took the city to the financial brink. More recently, the utility took steps to back away from Villaraigosa's promise to make renewable energy, such as wind and solar, 40% of its energy portfolio by 2020, drawing an outcry from the environmentalists that backed the mayor when he ran for office.

Villaraigosa's pick must still be approved by the City Council. The DWP has had five general managers since 2007.