WHEN:
Tuesday, July 26, 2022, at 10:00 a.m.
WHERE:
Board of Commissioners Meeting Room
Department of Water and Power of the City of Los Angeles
111 North Hope Street, Room 1555-H
Los Angeles, CA 90012
WHAT:
The Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (LADWP) Board of Commissioners will hear from community-based organizations and advocates on the front-lines of helping customers cope with the impacts of more frequent extreme heat events caused by climate change and propose a new “Cool LA” initiative to help eligible elderly, low-income and “lifeline” medically impacted customers during extreme heat.
Cool LA will enable LADWP customers to purchase or replace various types of air conditioning units, including window, portable A/Cs, swamp coolers and other cooling units at reduced cost to lower extreme heat indoor temperatures to a safe level. The ‘Cool LA’ program will also provide eligible customers with extreme heat electricity bill payment options to help them manage higher power costs for using air conditioning during the year’s hottest days and nights and will partner with community-based organizations to spur program participation and raise awareness of ways LADWP can help residents stay cool, while managing their electricity bills from the Summer.
LADWP’s Board of Commissioners has invited public testimony from City Plants, a local nonprofit partnering with LADWP on neighborhood tree planting efforts to increase temperature reducing shade areas in neighborhoods throughout the City. Representatives of Pacoima Beautiful and Enterprise Community Partners will provide testimony on the impacts of extreme heat on seniors and youth, particularly those living in low-income disadvantaged communities.
LADWP has an array of existing programs that address short-term and long-term climate change caused by extreme heat that would now fall under the ‘Cool LA’ umbrella. The programs enable LADWP residential and commercial customers to quickly and easily access current benefits that help them overcome the health risks associated with extreme heat, achieve greater energy and heat mitigation efficiencies, and increased air conditioning system effectiveness.
The focus on helping residents better manage the impacts of extreme heat comes as LADWP identifies ways to ensure that all residents, especially those in communities where the impacts are greatest and there is a historic lack of program participation or availability of applicable programs, are able to participate more fully. LADWP’s ‘Cool LA’ would include the department’s array of heat mitigation and customer energy management efforts, including its air conditioning optimization program, home energy improvement program, consumer energy efficiency appliance rebate program, efficient product marketplace program, comprehensive affordable multifamily retrofits program, cool pavement program, power savers program and smooth summer payment plan program.
CONTACT INFO: LADWP Media Relations: 213-367-1323
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