This story was originally published in the Guardian, and reproduced here with the Climate Desk collaboration. According to a recent report, many Americans can expect their utility bills to rise by 8 percent this summer. The report said that high electricity bills put low income households at risk of extreme heat. The report noted that last year was the hottest on record.
[[{“value”:”This story was originally published by the Guardian and is reproduced these as part of the Climate Desk collaboration.
According to a new report, many Americans can anticipate an 8 % increase in their utility costs this summer. According to the report, rising electricity bills put low-income households at risk from severe heat.
Last year was the Earth’s hottest one on record. In the US only, about 11, 000 people are estimated to have died of heat exposure.
More and more families need cooling assistance, according to Mark Wolfe, executive director of the National Energy Assistance Directors Association and report’s cause author. ” I’m worried that we’re looking at another hot summer, and we’re not prepared for it”.
” If people ca n’t afford air conditioners in the summer, we should n’t be surprised that people become ill and go to hospitals”.
The average cost to cool a home this summer would be$ 719, up from$ 661 last year and$ 476 a decade ago, according to the analysis conducted by the National Energy Assistance Directors Association and the Center for Energy Poverty. The highest increase in electricity costs is anticipated for the mid-Atlantic and West Coast regions, at 12 %, over the previous year.
Low- income households pay about 8.6 percent of their income toward utilities, according to the Department of Energy. A household with a great energy burden is regarded as one that contributes 6 % of their income to energy costs. Nearly 20 % of very low-income households, which included the period from June through September, do not have any air conditioning at all, according to the report.
According to Shelby Green, a researcher at the Energy and Policy Institute, “families in America are in a hazardous situation where they may have to sacrifice other aspects of their lives to maintain power.” Customers are “disappointed with the ongoing costs of their utility bills going into the summer.”
Extreme heat is the most fatal weather phenomenon, surpassing flooding, hurricanes, and tornadoes. Higher energy costs are more prevalent among those with lower incomes who reside in older, less effective, and less energy-efficient buildings.
” If people ca n’t afford air conditioners in the summer, we should n’t be surprised that people become ill and go to hospitals”, said Wolfe. ” Then with extended heatwaves, more families need access to affordable cooling”.
The Inflation Reduction Act ( IRA ), which was passed in 2022, expands access to weatherization assistance and high-efficiency heating and cooling systems, according to the report. ( New York became the first state in the country to offer IRA home energy rebates last week. ) The authors come to the conclusion that Congress needs to create a long-term strategy to fund both programs entirely.
The authors also urge Congress to reinstate funding for national energy assistance programs, which were cut by$ 2 billion in the current budget by lawmakers. And 33 states do not protect homeowners from summer utility shut-offs, putting tens of millions of Americans at risk during high heat times.”}]] This story was originally published by the Guardian and is reproduced these as part of the Climate Desk collaboration. According to a new report, many Americans can anticipate an 8 % increase in their utility costs this summer. According to the report, rising electricity bills put low-income households at risk from severe heat. Last year was the Earth’s hottest
This story was originally published in the Guardian, and reproduced here with the Climate Desk collaboration. According to a recent report, many Americans can expect their utility bills to rise by 8 percent this summer. The report said that high electricity bills put low income households at risk of extreme heat. The report noted that last year was the hottest on record.
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