Advocates Warn Extreme Heat , Could Drive Home Cooling , Costs to Decade High.
NBC reports that the average cost of keeping a home
in the United States cool from June to September is
set to hit $719 in 2024, according to new projections.
Advocates for low-income households found
that those annual costs for cooling a home in
the summer are about 8% higher than in 2023.
Back in 2021, the average cost
to cool a home was down at
an average of $573 annually.
According to organizations that distribute federal financial
support, an estimated one million fewer families
will be able to receive assistance paying their energy bills. .
This loss of assistance comes partly as the result of government
funding for the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program
(LIHEAP) dropping to $4.1 billion, down from $6.1 billion in 2023.
It’s inflation in the sense that you
have to spend more to cool your
house, but you’re using more of it, Mark Wolfe, Executive director of the National Energy
Assistance Directors Association (NEADA), via NBC.
So you can’t blame
the price. This is more
the price of climate change, Mark Wolfe, Executive director of the National Energy
Assistance Directors Association (NEADA), via NBC.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
has warned that 2024 is expected to rank among
the top five hottest years on record. .
According to the National Energy Assistance Directors
Association (NEADA) report, many households face the
risk of debt or potential utility shut-offs for nonpayment.
These estimates could, in fact,
understate the final costs of home
cooling this summer if temperatures
continue to reach record levels, National Energy Assistance Directors
Association (NEADA) report, via NBC