DWP helicopters? Utility plans to spend $4 million on new airships
A Los Angeles DWP helicopter leaves the helipad in Sylmar, CA June 13, 2014.(Andy Holzman/Los Angeles Daily News)
Mike Reicher, Los Angeles Daily News
Many large cities own helicopters to spot criminals or shuttle patients from serious freeway crashes. Los Angeles, notorious for high-speed chases and wildfires, maintains a fleet of 23 choppers in its police and fire departments. But there are at least four other government birds that patrol less conspicuous targets: the city's water supply and electric grid.The Department of Water and Power spends about $2.5 million a year to maintain and operate its Bell helicopters with a staff of eight full-time pilots.
And now the department is preparing to replace its two oldest airships at a cost of up to $4 million. At a time of tight budgets and pending rate increases, DWP officials contend their air operations are a necessary, and cost-effective, expense to monitor security and maintain infrastructure."Our older helicopters are simply no longer adequate to do what we need them to do," says Michael Finnegan, one of the department's two chief helicopter pilots.The two helicopters were purchased in 1988 and 1990 and have about 10,000 hours each of flying time, though helicopters in general have been known to continue flying with at least 70,000 hours on their engines, according to one aviation expert.
"A helicopter can be re-built over and over again," said Robert Feerst, president of Indiana-based Utilities Aviation Specialists.But the department expects increasing maintenance costs will be more expensive than replacing them, Finnegan saidAviation officials are preparing a request for proposals to potentially issue this summer. Depending on the value of the bids, the DWP could buy none, one or two choppers, officials say. They would sell the old helicopters at an auction.Newer models have modern technology and more lifting power, Finnegan says. They have digital instruments instead of buttons and dials, and a navigation system with GPS for low visibility conditions and night flights. Also, they can lift heavier power poles than the current helicopters, at high altitudes and in hotter weather, he added.
While the DWP helicopters are sometimes all flying at once, they're often grounded. Based on flight logs for roughly 12 months ending in May, the DWP flew an average of 4.4 hours per day and about two flights per day  -  spread among the four aircraft.LARGE AREAThe Daily News reviewed flight logs and compared DWP's helicopter program with other utilities to understand how it all works.With more than 3,600 miles of transmission lines and towers that span five western states and the 338-mile-long Los Angeles Aqueduct, the DWP often flies to make repairs, install and transport new equipment, attend meetings, photograph facilities and patrol for security. Advertisement
"It is simply not cost effective to cover this kind of territory by truck," Finnegan said.Many of the flights are to the Owens Valley, about 200 miles from Los Angeles, where the DWP manages hundreds of thousands of acres and has extensive water rights.On more than 70 percent of the department's roughly 700 flights during the past year, a pilot and usually one security officer patrolled the system, according to flight logs. They ranged from quick half-hour tours in the L.A. basin, where the department runs eight reservoirs and pump stations, to nearly seven-hour hauls to undisclosed locations. Some of the power lines stretch to Oregon and Utah.
While the DWP wouldn't point to any specific terrorist plots its helicopters have helped foil, officials say threats and attacks on utilities, in general, have increased since 2002, when it purchased its two newest aircraft.Following the 9/11 terrorist attacks, the department spent about $2 million on each chopper, part of a larger security build-up. The heightened threat produced a "windfall" for the utility aviation sector, Feerst noted.COSTS COMPARABLEAnother option would be outsourcing. More utilities today contract out their aerial work than maintain their own fleet, Feerst said.
Southern California Edison, like the DWP, is an exception: It has a fleet of six helicopters and six pilots.San Diego Gas and Electric, Pacific Gas and Electric in Northern California, and Sacramento Municipal Utility District  -  the next largest public utility in the state  -  all use contractors exclusively.Ownership may be just as cost-effective as contract work, though. Compared with outsourcing at Pacific Gas and Electric, the only utility which provided detailed expense figures, DWP's in-house fleet costs about the same. PG&E spent $13.9 million in 2013 for nearly 9,000 hours of flying time  -  at a rough price of $1,565 per hour.
The DWP, which has a smaller service area and flies just a fraction of that, spent $2.4 million in fiscal 2013, and flew 1,600 hours in the roughly 12 months ending in May (the department keeps just one year of flight logs). That is a rough cost of $1,535 per hour. In the previous four years, using the same flying time, DWP choppers cost slightly more than PG&E's 2013 outsourced rate.That parity was welcome news for Tony Wilkinson, chairman of the DWP Neighborhood Council Oversight Committee. Wilkinson believes all DWP divisions should undergo a regular comparative cost analysis because "all of us think the cost of workers at DWP is very high." The eight DWP pilots made an average of $122,000 each annually in 2012 - the most recent year available from the state Controller - plus about $15,000 in health and retirement benefits. When not flying, the pilots train, oversee maintenance and repairs, record their flight logs and take care of other administrative work, said Finnegan, the pilot.Irrespective of cost, Wilkinson believes maintaining an in-house fleet is important for security and natural disasters, when the DWP can't depend on a company's availability. Department officials agree. "If a major disaster strikes L.A., our pilots will be flying alongside fire and police choppers to protect and secure the city," Finnegan said. "The program, personnel and equipment are all vital to providing safe and reliable water and power to the city."
Mike Reicher is an investigative reporter for the Los Angeles News Group with a focus on government accountability. Reach the author at 
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