Reliant Energy has opened more than three dozen "Beat the Heat" centers across Texas. In the Metroplex, the National Weather Service predicts scattered showers and temperatures in the 80s this weekend, but sunshine and highs reaching the mid-90s are expected starting Monday and running through next week.
"They're air conditioned spaces. They're free, and they're open until the end of September," says Reliant's Susie Dieth.
Dieth says community centers will give people a place to sit in air conditioning and get a snack or something to drink. She says they will also have activities.
Dieth says Reliant is also donating $200,000 across Texas to pay for 52 cooling centers and 2,000 air conditioners or other cooling devices. Reliant is also donating $1 million to provide utility assistance.
"No one should put their health at risk by choosing not to run their A/C when the weather gets hot because they're worried about a high electric bill," she says.
People who need help with electric bills can contact 211texas.org or call 211 for help. Reliant says its own "Customer Assistance and Relief for Energy Bills (CARE)" program has provided more than $18 million in assistance since 2002. Information about the program is available here.
Dieth made the announcement in Fort Worth where firefighters will install 100 air conditioners.
"This is a direct investment in our community, safety and the dignity for our Fort Worth families," he says. "Each unit represents relief, it represents a good night's sleep, it represents a family who doesn't have to sit in dangerous heat and wonder if help is coming."
Hill urges people, as temperatures increase, to check on their neighbors to make sure they have ways to stay cool. He says heat-related illness or other issues don't send out smoke or flames like a fire.
"We are reminding people they have not been forgotten," says Fort Worth Interim Fire Chief Raymond Hill. "We're saying to our neighbors, 'Your safety matters. Your life matters, and this city sees you.' This is the kind of city Fort Worth is."
Friday is the first day of the year the average high at DFW Airport is 90 degrees. The average high will continue to climb reaching 97 degrees July 23 through August 14. The National Weather Service says the area reaches 100 degrees an average of 20 days a year. The average date for the first day above 100 is July 1; the last is August 27.
"Our firefighters are used to responding when people are in crisis, but this effort reflects another side of the fire service," Hill says. "It shows our mission is not only to respond to something bad. Our mission is also to prevent harm before something happens."
Reliant has four "Beat the Heat" locations in Fort Worth and two in Dallas. The company also has locations in Corpus Christi, Houston, Lubbock and McAllen. A complete list is available here.
