Get ready for a summer of heat waves — and higher air conditioning bills

By Tami Luhby, CNN

(CNN) — Many Americans may get hot under the collar when they open their electric bills this summer, but for some, the consequences of rising utility costs can be a lot more serious.

The cost of keeping cool is expected to rise nearly 8% to an average of $719 from June through September, according to an analysis by the National Energy Assistance Directors Association and the Center for Energy Poverty and Climate. That’s yet another price hike for inflation-weary consumers, who were paying only an average of $527 for electricity over the summer in 2019.

The increase is projected to be even higher in some parts of the US. Those living in the mid-Atlantic and Pacific are expected to see their bills spike more than 12%, while residents in parts of the Midwest could have to contend with jumps of roughly 10%.

Although electricity prices have fallen slightly, usage is expected to climb along with the thermometer, which will result in bigger bills, said Mark Wolfe, the association’s executive director. He pointed to the National Weather Service’s prediction that much of the country will probably have above-normal temperatures this summer.

“You’ll need more electricity to get through the summer,” he said.

The association’s cost estimate is higher than that of the US Energy Information Administration, which last month predicted that the average residential electric bill will be $519 for all of June, July and August, up 2.9% from the same period a year earlier. The agency also predicts larger spikes for the mid-Atlantic, Pacific and parts of the Midwest, though not as high as the association’s estimate.

The difference in projections stems from the association assuming higher rates of usage because of hotter temperatures, Wolfe said. Also, the association’s estimate of the total bill is larger because it includes the month of September in its summer forecast.

Serious consequences

For some Americans, soaring utility bills can lead to death or major health consequences. Heat-related deaths are also on the rise, with just over 2,300 people succumbing last year, up from just over 1,600 in 2021, according to the Department of Health and Human Services.

Also, heat-related health emergencies hit record levels in certain parts of the country last summer, which was the hottest ever recorded in the US.

But the US doesn’t have a comprehensive policy to help people stay cool as climate change fuels heat waves that are more intense, last longer and occur more frequently, Wolfe said.

Currently, about 80% of the federal funding to help people pay for their utilities is used for heating assistance. And while some states and localities provide air conditioners to low-income households, many folks are afraid to use them because of the cost, said Diana Hernandez, an associate professor and co-director of the Energy Opportunity Lab at Columbia University.

At a recent focus group in Chicago, Hernandez met a mother who rides the public buses with her children during hot summer days since she can’t afford to run her air conditioner regularly.

“There’s a need to rethink and modernize energy assistance programs to reflect current climate realities, which have a lot to do with warming temperatures and increasing needs to stay cool at home for health, safety and survivability,” Hernandez said. “This is real, but our policies don’t reflect the reality.”

Less assistance available

Though many Americans are struggling to pay their utilities, federal assistance for these bills was slashed by one-third this fiscal year. The Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program, known as LIHEAP, has $4.1 billion to help consumers with heating and cooling costs, down from $6.1 billion in the prior fiscal year.

States, which distribute the funds to eligible residents, have told the energy assistance directors association that the cut will force them to reduce the number of households served, by about 1 million. And those that receive help may have a smaller portion of their arrears paid off or may not have their cooling bills covered.

Congress had been providing billions of dollars in additional support for LIHEAP in recent years in the wake of soaring energy prices during the Covid-19 pandemic. But that still wasn’t enough to meet the need.

The number of people behind in their utility bills and the amount of money they owe are at record highs, according to the association, which began tracking these figures when arrearages exploded in 2020 at the start of the pandemic.

Some 21.2 million households in the US — or more than 1 in 6 — owed money on their electricity bills in December, up from 20.1 million a year earlier. Electricity and natural gas arrearages combined hit $20.3 billion, up from $17.8 billion the year before.

And nearly 1 in 5 households said they kept their homes at a temperature that felt unsafe or unhealthy at least one month in the past year, according to an April Household Pulse Survey conducted by the US Census Bureau.

What’s more, only 17 states and the District of Columbia provide protections from power shutoffs during summer heat waves, though most states have moratoriums during cold winters. But even in the states with summertime bans, the rules are outdated and inadequate, consumer advocates say. Some only kick in during very high temperatures, while others are triggered by National Weather Service heat advisories or warnings — even though people can overheat even when the thermometer doesn’t climb that high.

“Because of the lack of a coherent policy to address summer cooling, people will die this summer from heatstroke,” Wolfe said. “We will have unnecessary deaths.”

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