PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) – As the hot weather approaches, those who live in areas with high heat risks are wondering what local leaders will do to get air conditioners to low-income families.
Stacey lives in a low-income building operated by Home Forward at Northwest 19th Avenue and Flanders Street where one of those victims died, and her apartment still doesn’t have an AC unit.
She said she applied for an air conditioner last year, but didn’t get one, and filled out a new application hoping to get one in her apartment this summer. She has yet to hear back.
“It’s a health concern, and there are folks that are of the age that live in the building and can’t get in and out to get to a cooling shelter, and there are some who don’t like to go to those shelters,” Stacey said.
In 2022, Portland City Council approved a grant to give out 15,000 heat pumps and air conditioning units to people who live in high-risk areas over the next five years. The grant, which pays a non-profit Earth Advantage to purchase, warehouse, and install the AC units, was a response to the 2021 heat dome that killed more than 70 people in Multnomah County.
The total number of air conditioners installed by the city last summer is unclear, but KOIN 6 found that nearly 800 had been installed while more than 1,300 remained in a warehouse.
In June 2022 Multnomah County announced the Fiscal Year 2023 budget directed resources to help people who are most at risk for climate related harms. KOIN 6 reached out to a county official to ask if the county is purchasing AC units for households who can’t afford one. However, we haven’t heard back.
An Earth Advantage spokesperson told KOIN 6 a total of 3,000 AC units were installed last year. However, they don’t know how many units are currently available for installation.
Commissioner Carmen Rubio’s office oversees Portland Clean Energy fund’s heat response program and said “we need to do all we can to save lives and help those most impacted by climate change.”
“Beyond the immediate help we can give, the city’s response to the next extreme heat event must go hand-in-hand with meaningful, long-term work to decarbonize our economy, improve community resiliency and enhance our tree canopy to reduce urban heat islands,” Rubio said.
According to Oregon Health Authority, they will “have a very limited number of ACs, approximately 3000 units statewide, to distribute to high-risk populations.”
Stay with KOIN 6 as this story develops.