Where keeping cool could cost the most this summer: new report
(NEXSTAR) — While average heating costs were projected to drop over the winter, Americans aren't likely to be as lucky when it comes to cooling costs this summer. Instead, new predictions say the financial burden of staying cool could reach its highest level in a decade.
Between June and September, the average cost of home cooling will be $719, up nearly 8% over last year, according to projections from the National Energy Assistance Directors Association (NEADA) and the Center for Energy, Poverty, and Climate (CEPC). It would mark the first time total cooling costs have surpassed $700, the report shows.
The report's authors point to rising temperatures, especially over the last 10 years, as well as a lack of access to affordable summer cooling, rising electric costs, and funding cutbacks for the federal Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program.
“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,” said Mark Wolfe, report author and Executive Director of the NEADA, adding that current strategies, like cooling centers, "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.”
NOAA’s Climate Prediction Center was already predicting an abnormally hot summer for nearly all of the U.S. in May. Those with the highest chances of a hotter-than-normal summer are in the West and the Northeast.
It's areas in the South, however, that the NEADA and CEPC report projects will have the highest cooling costs this summer. On track to have the highest costs, according to the report, are Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, and Louisiana, where the average summer electric bill could reach $858 or higher from June to September.
Parts of Texas were already experiencing high heat Tuesday, with heat index values on track to reach well over 105°.
The first heat wave of the season is expected to hit parts of California, Nevada, and Arizona this week as well. By Wednesday, most of an area stretching from southeast California to central Arizona will see “easily their hottest” weather since last September, and record daily highs will be in jeopardy from Las Vegas to Phoenix, the National Weather Service said late Monday.
Those regions could see average summer cooling costs at close to $700 this year, according to the NEADA and CEPC report. For states in the Pacific region (Washington, Oregon, California, Alaska, and Hawaii), that could equate to a 12% increase over last year.
The table below shows the estimated final costs of home cooling for this summer, as well as the percentage difference over last summer's costs, courtesy of NEADA and CEPC.
| Region | Est. Total Summer Cooling Costs | % Difference from 2023 |
| Wisconsin, Michigan, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio | $581 | 9.8% |
| North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas, Minnesota, Iowa, Missouri | $625 | 7.1% |
| Idaho, Nevada, Montana, Utah, Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado, Wyoming | $654 | 6.5% |
| New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania | $691 | 12.2% |
| Washington, Oregon, California, Alaska, Hawaii | $693 | 12.2% |
| Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut | $760 | 5.3% |
| Kentucky, Tennessee, Mississippi, Alabama | $774 | 10.1% |
| West Virginia, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, District of Columbia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Florida | $792 | 7.4% |
| Oklahoma, Arkansas, Louisiana, Texas | $858 | 1.8% |
The report's authors note that these may be lower-end estimates if temperatures continue to rise through the summer.
Some areas on pace for high temperatures and cooling costs are already working to provide affordable options. New York City's Home Energy Assistance Program recently announced a partnership to give qualifying households a free air conditioner, for example.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.