When my parents moved to the United States from India, they brought with them a quiet determination to survive. They recounted to my sister and me tales of sleeping on the floor in a two-bedroom apartment, where six adults shared space, followed rotating schedules, and took on various odd jobs—anything to make their limited resources last a little longer.
Their focus was always on saving money, not out of preference, but out of necessity. Back then, even a small saving could mean the difference between having stability and facing struggle.
This kind of decision-making is familiar to many households even today. However, it now occurs under different circumstances, where rising costs, financial stress, and extreme weather events increasingly overlap.
With summers getting hotter and energy costs climbing, the issue of what people can afford, often termed energy affordability, is increasingly linked to how they cope with heat—and, in some cases, their safety during these times.
These issues extend beyond comfort to include the challenges of dealing with extreme weather, which significantly impacts not just comfort, but also cost, health, and overall well-being.
The period known as Danger Season has arrived. Danger Season, spanning from May to October, is when North America faces its most severe weather events, including heatwaves, droughts, wildfires, and hurricanes. This season poses serious challenges for households nationwide. It is crucial to consider the links between extreme heat, energy affordability, and the ability to safely keep cool.
1. Rising temperatures lead to increased energy use and higher energy bills.
In the summer, air conditioning can account for a significant portion of a household’s electricity consumption, especially during extreme heat. For many families, staying cool means using more electricity just as demand and costs peak.
Although most households in the U.S. have some form of air conditioning, having access does not guarantee affordability. The cost influences the ability to cool a home safely and consistently. Many face familiar decisions: should they switch on the air conditioning or manage with a fan? Keep it running overnight or turn it off to save money?
2. Energy affordability impacts how people experience heat
For many households, challenges begin with the electricity bill, not the temperature.
Electricity prices are increasing rapidly across much of the country. These rising costs are driven by various factors, including growing demand, aging infrastructure, spikes in fossil fuel prices, and the added strain of extreme weather on the grid. For those already managing tight budgets, this alters their experience during the summer months. In some regions, high summer cooling expenses come right after costly winter heating bills, leaving little room for financial recovery as summer begins.
For a growing number of households, cooling isn’t a decision made lightly; it’s weighed against other essential expenses. People begin making decisions early, such as running the AC less, delaying its use, closing off parts of the home, and bracing for the potential bill. By the time the first heatwave hits, many are already anxious about the cost of staying safe.
3. Access to cooling influences heat risk
Air conditioning is often treated as a luxury, but during extreme heat, it becomes essential for safety. Extreme heat is among the deadliest weather-related dangers in the U.S. Reliable and affordable cooling is one of the most effective safety measures.
However, this protection is only effective if people can afford to use it. When costs are a barrier, safety is compromised.
Housing conditions can exacerbate these risks. Older or poorly insulated homes can trap heat, requiring more energy to cool and raising indoor temperatures and electricity use during heatwaves. As a result, some households face extreme heat with fewer protections.
4. A high energy burden can increase risk
For households where energy costs consume a large portion of income, staying cool isn’t just costly; it can become destabilizing. The financial strain of cooling during extreme heat often adds to existing challenges, particularly for those facing housing insecurity, chronic illness, disability, outdated infrastructure, or other financial pressures.
These decisions aren’t isolated; they recur throughout a heatwave: using the AC less, delaying its use, or cooling only parts of the home. Over time, these compromises can lead to higher indoor temperatures, disrupted sleep, worsened health conditions, and increased exposure to dangerous heat.
Moreover, energy burden is not uniformly experienced across households, meaning the same heatwave can have vastly different impacts depending on income, housing conditions, health status, and access to resources.
5. Disconnection has cascading effects
For some, these compromises culminate in a more severe outcome: utility disconnection. When electricity is cut off, cooling becomes not just unaffordable, but impossible. The consequences extend beyond heat:
- Homes become unsafe during extreme temperatures
- Food and medications spoil
- Medical devices cease functioning
- Families may be forced to leave their homes
Disconnection is not merely a financial issue; it signifies a failure of the system to protect those relying on it. During extreme heat, it can escalate hazardous conditions to life-threatening levels.
Policies designed to shield households from shutoffs during extreme weather vary greatly by state, utility, and season. In many regions, protections during extreme heat are less stringent than those for winter, despite increasingly dangerous summers. Programs like the Low Income Energy Assistance Program offer vital support, but cooling assistance and summer coverage remain limited or inconsistent for many. Recent data from the US Energy Information Administration revealed that residential electricity service was disconnected 13.4 million times in 2024 due to unpaid bills, illustrating the ongoing energy insecurity many face.
6. These risks are not equally shared
The burden of these conditions is not evenly distributed. Some households start summer with higher energy burdens. Some reside in homes that more readily trap heat. Some are managing health issues that heighten the danger of heat. For some, all these challenges occur simultaneously.
The result is that the same heatwave can have vastly different outcomes depending on location, home construction, and available resources.
7. These outcomes are not predetermined
It doesn’t have to remain this way.
The systems influencing these experiences—electricity costs, housing quality, grid investment, shutoff policies, and energy aid programs—developed over time and can be transformed.
We can create initiatives to reduce energy burdens. We can invest in cooling access and resilience. We can prevent disconnections during extreme weather and bolster protections for the most vulnerable households. We can plan for extreme heat as a predictable event, not as an afterthought. And we can strive to reduce the climate pollution that contributes to more severe heat extremes over time.
The reality is that individuals shouldn’t have to face life-or-death choices just to stay cool in their homes.
My parents’ stories are part of a longer narrative—one that persists today in various forms across the country (and globally). While details may vary, the fundamental question remains: What does it take to get through the day—and at what cost?
As summer nears, this question becomes increasingly difficult for too many households to answer. This is something we still have the power and responsibility to change. Every rising bill reflects a series of decisions about how our energy system is structured and managed—and whom it serves.
