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In LA, need for free AC units outpaces supply. How you can get your hands on one
LADWP workers lift a portable AC unit into a car as part of a free AC giveaway event for people over 60 years old in at the Lincoln Park Senior Center in Lincoln Heights.
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The Los Angeles Department of Water and Power gave away more than 550 free portable air conditioning units Monday at the Lincoln Park Senior Center in Lincoln Heights.
The event was open to LA Department of Water and Power customers over 60 years old with low incomes. Hundreds of Angelenos waited in line to receive their units. By 10 a.m., traffic was backed up down Valley Boulevard.
Joseph Metoyer was walking fast to get a place in line. He said he has no working air conditioning at his home in Woodland Hills, where temperatures have hit the 110s over the last few days. He said he’s been trying to get some relief from the heat by using fans and placing a wet washcloth on his legs and chest at night.
“It’s been brutal with the heat wave,” Metoyer said. “We’re strong but… we haven't experienced heat like this — 110 degrees? That's Palm Springs weather.
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"That's very rare, so global warming is a reality.”
Joseph Metoyer of Woodland Hills attended LADWP's AC giveaway event. He has no AC where he lives and says the recent heat has been "brutal."
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A new strategy
This was the third — and most attended — air conditioner giveaway event that the department has held this summer. More than 500 people pre-registered online, and at least a hundred more showed up to wait in line and inside the air conditioned senior center, officials said.
The first giveaway was held in Watts in July, where more than 300 people attended and about 250 air conditioning units were distributed, according to the department. A second event was held in August in Pacoima, where some 400 people attended and about 300 free portable room air conditioners were distributed.
Hundreds of people attended LADWP's free AC giveaway event on Monday at the Lincoln Park Senior Center in Lincoln Heights.
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Why now and how to attend the next giveaway event
It’s the first summer LADWP has held such giveaways. Temperatures have broken records across the Southland this summer — July was officially California’s hottest month in more than 100 years.
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“Knowing that it's not getting any cooler, we needed to do something for our high-risk population,” said Latanya Bogin-Jordan, director of partnership development and strategic engagement with LADWP. “We may have to do this again knowing that this need is great.”
People wait to receive their free portable air conditioning units at the Lincoln Park Senior Center in Lincoln Heights.
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She said another air conditioner giveaway event is planned for the San Fernando Valley, though the details have yet to be confirmed. People who RSVP online will get priority, and everyone will need to bring an ID and LADWP bill. Check ladwp.com/HeatRelief2024 for updates.
The agency is planning to launch a rebate program for all customers for air conditioning next year, Bogin-Jordan said.
Higher and higher record heat
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On Friday, downtown LA reached 112 degrees, just below the record high of 113 set in 2010. On Saturday, Woodland Hills reached 111, breaking the old record of 109 set in 1955. On Sunday, Long Beach hit 106, breaking the old record of 105 set in 1984, all according to the National Weather Service.
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Scientists say increasingly frequent record high temperatures are a sign of human-caused climate change.
Rising need amid climate-fueled extreme heat
People who pre-registered online for the Lincoln Heights event were first in line to receive air conditioning units. Dozens of others were put on a waitlist. Many attendees LAist spoke with did not realize they should pre-register online or by phone, or weren't sure how to do that.
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Laura Montiel, 67, didn’t know she could register ahead of time and her name was placed on the waitlist. She said she recently got sick from the heat in her Highland Park apartment, which has no A/C.
Laura Montiel says she recently got sick from the heat because her apartment has no AC.
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“I had to call my neighbor to help me out because my legs were so weak,” she said. “It was horrible. This heat has been hitting us very bad. I hope I can have [an air conditioning unit] because I really, really need it.”
She said in her 25 years of living in Highland Park, she’s never felt she needed more than a fan.
According to an update requested by LAist from LADWP on Tuesday, all people put on the waitlist who qualified for a unit did end up receiving one. But Montiel told LAist she didn't receive hers. By 3 pm, she said about 20 people were ahead of her in line, but she had to leave to pick up her granddaughter for a medical appointment.
"I wasted my whole day doing nothing, just sitting down," she said. "The good thing is they gave us the opportunity to be in the auditorium because there was A/C right there."
She said she's not sure if she'll go to the next giveaway because she has to care for her grandchildren.
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A woman gives an LADWP employee a hug after receiving her air conditioning unit.
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Of about a dozen people LAist spoke with, all had lived in the L.A. region for decades and noticed that the intensity of the heat has changed.
AJ Brown came from Baldwin Village to pick up an air conditioning unit.
“Before, I lived in Lancaster, so I know about heat, but as bad as it is now, I can use some air conditioning,” he said. “The way the weather's changing, maybe it'll be a regular thing because it seems to get more extreme by the year.”
The L.A. Department of Water and Power offers a delivery service for the air conditioning units, but they can take about a week to receive, officials told LAist.
AJ Brown of Baldwin Village says the heat has gotten worsen in recent years.
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Heat is dangerous, especially for older adults
We often think of heat as most dangerous for people outside, but not having sufficient cooling at home can also be harmful and even deadly. That's especially true for older people whose bodies can’t regulate heat as well and who often have underlying health issues and may be taking medications that affect the body’s response to heat, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Research is also finding that hotter nights driven by human-caused climate change may increase the risk of stroke in older adults.
People wait in line at LADWP's free AC giveaway event at the Lincoln Park Senior Center in Lincoln Heights on Monday.
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Mary Lou Merchain, 77, received a portable air conditioning unit. She said she’s lived in El Sereno for more than 50 years and that the extreme heat this year has made it impossible for her to sleep.
“I can't sleep at night. I'm tossing and turning,” she said. “Before I could tolerate it, maybe because I was younger. But now I can't.”
She said the air conditioner in her home is broken, and she’s spent hundreds of dollars to fix it. She said her son pitched in on repairs. But then it broke again.
Isabel Ortiz, left, and her husband José, of Lincoln Heights receive a free AC. They say they have not been able to afford one amid abnormally high temperatures.
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Isabel Ortiz said she was grateful to receive her free air conditioning unit because she and her husband can’t afford to buy one. She said she’s lived in Lincoln Heights for nearly 50 years but only in recent years has the heat felt so intense.
“I've been here for a long time and I know what the temperature is,” she said. “It's changed a lot. Too much.”
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