Climate Change, Extreme Heat, & the Future of LA’s Electric Power System
For LA residents climate change is no longer a distant or abstract concept because its effects are
already being felt throughout the region. During just the past three years, for example, several new
record high maximum daily temperatures have been recorded in numerous LA neighborhoods,
with Van Nuys experiencing 118 °F in 2018 and more recently, in 2020, parts of Woodland Hills
enduring temperatures of 120 °F. These developments are clearly illustrated in the figure below
which shows the percentage of sampled maximum daily temperatures within the LA-Basin that
were above different high heat thresholds for each year from 2005 to 2020.
Working Paper | 2021