LOS ANGELES — As Los Angeles faces a future with more days of extreme heat, the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power Board of Commissioners proposed a program Thursday that can help city residents stay cool.

Designed to combat the health impacts of days that exceed 90 degrees, the Cool LA program will allow Angelenos to buy or replace various types of air conditioning units at a reduced cost.

Low-income residents will also be able to manage the higher power costs that result from air conditioning use in the summer, with payment plan options that can spread the costs across several months.

“No one living in the city of Los Angeles should be allowed to suffer a heat-related death or suffer a major health-related emergency triggered by extreme heat,” LADWP Board President Cynthia McClain-Hill said during this week’s board meeting when the idea was first proposed. “Now it is time to apply commonsense solutions to what is expected to be a growing public health, weather and climate change concern.”

Extreme heat waves cause five times more deaths than any other climate hazard in the city, according to the LA Climate Emergency Mobilization Office. Already a deadly public health threat, it’s expected to get worse because of climate change, which increases the frequency and intensity of extreme heat events characterized by weather that is much hotter than average. 

Mortality increases 8% on the hottest days during an average Los Angeles summer, according to health officials. Consecutive days of intense heat cause 30% more deaths. Seniors, children and individuals with chronic medical conditions are most at risk, as are individuals in low-income communities, Blacks, Latinos and outdoor workers.

McClain-Hill said room air conditioners are a good option to immediately bring down indoor temperatures on hot days in homes that lack central air conditioning or window-mounted units. Even so, low-income and elderly LADWP customers who have air conditioning often hesitate to use it because of the cost.

“We know the Angelenos who are most impacted by extreme heat,” LADWP Board Vice President Cynthia Ruiz said Tuesday. “They are the low-income residents and the medically fragile who typically live in communities such as the East San Fernando Valley, Hollywood, Boyle Heights and Central and South LA.”

All of those areas, she said, face worsening heat emergencies due in part to a lack of tree cover that makes those parts of the city even hotter. To help create shade, Cool LA will work with the local nonprofit City Plants to provide shade trees to LADWP customers.