Janisse Quiñones, the chief executive officer and chief engineer of the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power, is stepping down and plans to leave the post on March 27, 2026. Her exit caps a brief but eventful run at the helm of the nation's largest municipally owned utility. City officials say she will return to Puerto Rico to help lead efforts to modernize the island’s electric grid, and that a short leadership transition will begin while the Board of Water and Power Commissioners and the mayor line up interim management for LADWP.
City announcement and timeline
The Office of Mayor Karen Bass is describing Quiñones's departure as a coordinated transition, with her last day set for March 27. Bass praised Quiñones for bringing "steady leadership and engineering expertise" to the department, according to FOX 11 Los Angeles. The mayor's office said the city will name interim leadership in the near future.
Where she’s headed
According to CBS Los Angeles, Bass's office said Quiñones will return to Puerto Rico to take a leadership role in the island’s push to modernize and transform its electric grid. Quiñones, who was born and raised in Caguas, thanked city leaders and said "serving the people of Los Angeles has been one of the greatest honors of my professional life," the outlet reported. Before joining LADWP she held senior utility roles, including at Pacific Gas and Electric.
Her record in L.A.
Quiñones was recommended by Mayor Bass and unanimously confirmed by the City Council to lead LADWP in May 2024, a choice the mayor cast as central to Los Angeles's clean energy transition, according to the Mayor's Office. Under her watch, LADWP, the nation's largest publicly owned utility, moved forward on several major projects, including the city's full divestment from coal and the commissioning of large solar-plus-storage capacity, milestones detailed by LADWP News. City leaders have framed those steps as building blocks toward a goal of 100 percent clean energy by 2035.
Controversies and challenges
Quiñones's time at LADWP was not quiet. It included intense scrutiny over the January Palisades fire and the recovery work that followed, which brought lawsuits and public anger over how agencies handled the emergency. The Los Angeles Times reported that the Fire Department delayed notifying DWP about more than 1,000 hydrants needing repair, a revelation that fueled criticism of system readiness. KABC/ABC7 also reported that the LADWP board postponed a proposed $700,000 private security contract for Quiñones, citing concerns about cost and optics. Coverage of tap water safe in Pacific Palisades tracked the utility's later water testing and public notices for neighborhoods affected by the fire.
What comes next
The city has not yet named a permanent or interim successor, and officials say interim leadership will be announced soon, according to CBS Los Angeles. The Board of Water and Power Commissioners is expected to play a central role in choosing a replacement while LADWP keeps working on grid upgrades and other large projects already underway. Angelenos will be watching to see whether the leadership handoff slows or sustains momentum on reliability and clean energy goals.
Bottom line
Quiñones's departure closes an energetic and sometimes turbulent chapter at LADWP, marked by ambitious climate milestones on one side and bruising questions about emergency response on the other. The next few weeks will test whether city leaders can quickly land experienced interim leadership and keep the utility on track as Los Angeles races toward major infrastructure deadlines and the 2028 Olympics.
