A new report says the upcoming summer months will bring an additional financial burden to Americans, especially low-income families, as cooling costs are expected to skyrocket across the nation.
The predicted cost is up from $661 during the same period last year and a significant jump from the $573 average in 2021, according to the National Energy Assistance Directors Association (NEADA) and the Center for Energy Poverty and Climate (CEPC).
The new report comes as the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) confirmed that this past month was the warmest April ever recorded and the 11th straight month of record-breaking hot temperatures.
The cost of cooling homes has risen steadily over the past decade, according to the report's authors. Some regions have even seen double-digit increases in cooling costs since last year, NEADA analysis shows.
Low-income families are at increased risk during the months from June to September, who are at a disadvantage, and already pay roughly 8.6 percent of their income for utility costs. Low-income individuals also have limited access to resources to weatherize and retrofit their homes with energy-efficient cooling.
Home energy is becoming increasingly unaffordable for low-income families, especially since federal funding for the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program has been slashed by $2 billion from $6.1 billion in fiscal year 2023 to $4.1 billion for fiscal year 2024.
“We must treat access to cooling like we treat access to heating. We must develop programs that enable low-income families to stay safe and in their homes during extreme temperatures,” NEADA Executive Director Mark Wolfe said in a statement.
“Our current strategies, including access to cooling centers, may have been appropriate when they were designed in the 1970s when summer temperatures were lower and heat waves were sporadic. They are inadequate to provide relief from the record-breaking high temperatures and continuous heat waves that have become our new normal in the summer months,” the statement added.
The Weatherization Assistance Program (WAP) and the High Efficiency Electric Home Rebate Program (HEEHRA) are both ways to invest in energy efficiency for low-income housing, according to the report's authors. However, lack of funding has affected the implementation of WAP, and only a very small portion of households are eligible for HEEHRA under the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act passed by President Joe Biden.
According to the executive director, funding for the federal program should be restored and Congress should integrate and launch a long-term plan to fully fund both programs ahead of the hot summer months.
Meanwhile, utility costs from June to September will vary geographically. Wisconsin and Michigan, for example, will see a $581 average, while cooling costs are predicted to hit as high as $858 in other areas, such as Texas and Oklahoma, according to NEADA's new data.