What did Janisse Quiñones Know about Disaster Relief Fraud in Puerto Rico?

Before she was CEO of LA Water and Power, Quiñones "coordinated" with people who committed disaster relief fraud.

No one seems to be looking at LA Water and Power CEO Janisse Quiñones Mercado (salary $750,000) beyond her employment with Pacific Gas & Electric. So I dug as far as I could. Like the water in LA that ran dry during the worst fires in American history, important information about her stops flowing in 2018 when San Diego Gas & Electric sends her to help Puerto Rico recover from Hurricane Maria.

In Puerto Rico, her main responsibility was “to coordinate with all the stakeholders, including the Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority (PREPA), the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) and industry counterparts working on electric grid restoration for the island.”

Apparently, she also served as Cobra Energy’s Vice President of Operations, “responsible for the restoration and reconstruction projects of the transmission and distribution electrical systems in Puerto Rico.”

So she was reportedly working for Cobra and coordinating with FEMA when two FEMA employees and the President of Cobra Energy were committing disaster relief fraud in Puerto Rico.

The three “decided to take advantage of the state of the electricity grid to enrich themselves at the cost of our suffering,” said Rosa Emilia Rodríguez, the US attorney for Puerto Rico.

All three were eventually convicted on various federal charges, so what did Quiñones know and when did she know it?

As an aside, in 2016, Deputy Director of FEMA Ahsha Tribble (who pled guilty in 2022) led a group of FEMA officials to American Samoa for a disaster exercise. Afterward, FEMA praised Samoa “for their resilience and the way in which they care for people during disasters.”

The Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority ceased to exist after Maria. As of 2022 — five years after the hurricane — the island’s power grid was “still struggling,” and the island welcomed 2025 with a complete collapse of the grid.

Not long ago, Quiñones told KBLA (video below) that her mother was a secretary for Puerto Rico’s power company. She grew up in Puerto Rico and graduated from the University of Puerto Rico. She returned to the island and “coordinated” with people who committed disaster relief fraud.

So what kind of disaster relief can Los Angeles expect from Janisse Quiñones now?

The all-too-brief resume of the LADWP CEO

2024: Mayor Karen Bass recommends Quiñones as General Manager of LADWP, with a salary almost twice that of her predecessor.

2021: PG&E makes Quiñones Senior Vice President, Gas Engineering.

2019: National Grid hires her as Vice President of Gas Systems Engineering.

2018: Sent to Puerto Rico as Planning Section Chief for the Central Incident Management Team’s response to Hurricane Maria.

Unknown dates: Joins San Diego Gas & Electric, serves in various positions including Director of Design, Planning, Construction and Vegetation Management. Also holds “key leadership roles” at Cobra Energy, including Vice President of Operations.

2004: Joins the U.S. Coast Guard, serves 17 years (full-time and reserve), eventually becoming Commander and Deputy of Planning and Incident Management.

1998: Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering from University of Puerto Rico-Mayaguez.