Raman Raj

Chief Operating Officer
Los Angeles Department of Water and Power

Mr. Raman Raj was appointed as the Chief Operating Officer of the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (LADWP) on December 3, 2007.

Mr. Raj is responsible for the day-to-day operations of LADWP, the nation's largest municipal utility, serving 640,000 water customers and 1.4 million electric customers. He manages over 8,500 employees and an annual budget of more than four billion dollars and oversees the Senior Assistant General Managers of the Water and Power systems, the Chief Administrative Officer, and the Chief Financial Officer. Also reporting directly to Mr. Raj are Environmental Affairs and Sustainability Programs, Economic Development, Legislative and Regulatory Affairs, and the Retirement Office.

Mr. Raj has returned to LADWP, where he served as Assistant General Manager from 1999 to 2001 and was instrumental in forging a collaborative working relationship between management and labor unions. In his capacity as Chief Administrative Officer, he was responsible for the utility's Information Technology, Human Resources, Labor Relations, Procurement, Safety, Customer Services, and Integrated Support Services divisions.

Prior to returning to LADWP, Mr. Raj was president of Resources Roundtable Consulting, a public sector firm that specialized in municipal utility issues.

Mr. Raj has more than 30 years of experience in helping organizations develop their human capital strategy, infrastructure and leading-edge people systems necessary to improve customer service and competitive performance. Prior to his first tenure at LADWP, he served as a Managing Director of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, where he was responsible for directing pension fund management, labor relations, compensation and training for the second-largest transit agency in the nation.

Experienced in the private sector as well, Mr. Raj has held senior management positions at Kaiser Permanente, The Flying Tigers in Los Angeles, and The Southland Corporation in Dallas.

A native of Hyderabad, India, Mr. Raj holds a Bachelor's Degree in Economics and Political Science and an MBA. He also holds a Certificate in Employee Relations Law.

Mr. Raj currently serves on the Southern California Public Power Authority Board of Directors, the Los Angeles County Economic Development Corporation Board of Governors, as Vice Chair at Large of the Executive Committee for the Western Energy Institute and as a Member of the CEO Steering Committee for the Large Public Power Council.