As temperatures increase, so do utility costs. But, what happens when people can't keep up with the bills? In the Mountain West, many states don鈥檛 offer protections for struggling rate payers.
The National Energy Assistance Directors Association (NEADA) is a federal entity that provides grants for states to help people struggling to pay their utilities. Executive Director Mark Wolfe said most states have 鈥渨inter protections鈥� 鈥� that means a utility company can't shut off power when the weather is below a certain temperature. But less than half of states have 鈥渟ummer protections.鈥�
鈥淭hese are rules that were written before we had back to back heat waves,鈥� Wolfe said. 鈥淪o 30, 40 years ago it might be 105 degrees for a couple of days. But not for weeks.鈥�
According to NEADA, is expected to average $719 in 2024. That鈥檚 almost $300 more than it was a decade ago, when the average was $476 in 2014.In our region, only and have 鈥渟ummer protections鈥� where the utility company cannot shut off power. In Colorado that protection kicks in when it gets above 95 degrees, and in Nevada, the temperature range is from 95 to 105 degrees, depending on whether someone belongs in a vulnerable group, and where in the state the utility is.
The days of short-term solutions such as setting up cooling centers are no longer viable.
鈥淪o a family that doesn't have air conditioning, struggling to pay the bill 鈥� they'd go to the library for the day. And that worked well when the heat wave was just for a day or two,鈥� Wolfe said. 鈥淏ut these extended heat waves make it much more difficult to have programs like that because you can't ask a family to move into the library for a week.鈥�
, Nevada ($110.17) has the highest average energy costs per household, while Utah ($80.87) has the lowest.
This story was produced by the Mountain West 暗黑爆料 Bureau, a collaboration between Wyoming Public Media, Nevada Public Radio (KNPR) in Las Vegas, Boise State Public Radio in Idaho, KUNR in Nevada, KUNC in Colorado and KANW in New Mexico, with support from affiliate stations across the region. Funding for the Mountain West 暗黑爆料 Bureau is provided in part by the .