With summer around the corner and the increase of water and power coming into effect, the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power announced Friday that it is offering free tuneups and upgrades for air conditioning units.
Mayor Eric Garcetti, joined by DWP officials and City Councilman Bob Blumenfield, announced the program at a Winnetka news conference.
Blumenfield requested these free inspections for the benefit of the residents.
"Racking my brain saying, I don't want to raise the rates on folks, but I understand the need for critical infrastructure and the consequences we have if we don't get the critical infrastructure," he said. "So in looking for a win-win, we found this."
The inspections and repairs are scheduled to start July 1 and will be offered for three years at an expense of about $4.5 million per year to the utility.
The program will include checkups on heating and air conditioning equipment and provide up to $150 toward purchasing new installations and thermostats.
Tessie Reyes Dunn, a homeowner in Los Angeles County, has an older thermostat that operates her A/C system. With the upgrade, she will be able to receive a $150 rebate.
"When it gets real hot, it's reached 117," she said. "I jump in my pool and wrap my body and come and sit in my chair with a wet towel wrapped around me. So that's a relief there."
Dunn was promised by the city she would be saving $500 next year with the needed repairs to her A/C unit.
"We've seen what the price is of not paying, whether it's a home that you maintain, or our own power lines that come down, or streets that burst with old pipes — you only have to look to places like Flint, Michigan to see the cost of not investing," Garcetti said.
The incentives were announced as the city is considering increases in DWP electricity and water rates. The City Council tentatively approved the hikes last week.
Under the water rate plan, the average customer will see a 4.76 percent annual increase, amounting to an additional $3 per month. A monthly bill of $57.79 for the typical residential water user would increase to an average rate of $72.90 at the end of the five-year period, according to an example in a staff report.
