NEADA co-releases report showing most Americans have no utility shut-off protections

Utility shut-off rules across the nation that are designed to help Americans stay connected to cooling during periods of extreme temperatures have not kept pace with the realities of climate change, according to an issue brief published July 16 by the National Energy Assistance Directors Association (NEADA) and the Center for Energy Poverty and Climate (CEPC).

“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,” said NEADA Executive Director Mark Wolfe, who authored the report. “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.”

In fact, many state shut-off rules were written decades ago, when dangerous temperatures were limited to short-term heat waves in many parts of the country, and the demand for electricity to run cooling systems was much lower because fewer families had access to air conditioning, according to the NEADA and CEPC brief.

The report provides background on why energy is becoming less affordable to low-income families and the limitations of current federal funding programs and state shut-off rules to protect families during high summer temperatures.

For instance, among the report’s key findings are that summer shut-off protections are only required by 19 states and Washington, D.C., leaving roughly 49 percent of the U.S. population, or about 164 million Americans, living in the 31 states having no summer shut-off protections.

This lack of shut-off protections will put millions of low-income families at risk of shut-off this summer as the cost of home cooling continues to rise and families crank-up their AC amid soaring temperatures, according to the brief.

In fact, NEADA and CEPC recently estimated in their 2024 Summer Residential Cooling Outlook that families across the country face an 8.8 percent increase to an average of $719 from June through September to stay cool this summer, compared to an average of $661 during the same period last year.

Additionally, low-income families struggle to pay their home energy bills due to the rapid increase in the cost of basic goods like food, shelter and energy, the brief says.

Millions of low-income families are currently in the precarious position of having to choose between paying their home energy bill and food, rent, and medicine, says the report.

The report also found that federal funding for the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program was reduced by $2 billion, from $6.1 billion in fiscal year 2023 to $4.1 billion for FY 2024.

“States have reported that due to the reduction in federal funds, they will have no choice this year but to reduce the number of households served by about one million, and reduce average heating and cooling benefits,” the brief says.

NEADA has called on Congress to restore the additional $2 billion and add another $1 billion in emergency funds to help families pay the additional costs associated with cooling this summer, according to Wolfe.

“We must treat access to cooling like we treat access to heating. All families should be protected against utility shut-offs during this period of rising temperatures and extreme heat waves,” Wolfe said. “We must develop programs that enable low-income families to stay safe and in their homes during extreme temperatures.”

The post NEADA co-releases report showing most Americans have no utility shut-off protections appeared first on Daily Energy Insider .