Challenges and Opportunities

Energy systems face unprecedented strain as temperatures rise, creating vulnerabilities for energy generation, grid transmission, and home cooling. The federal government must prepare energy systems and the built environment through strategic investments in energy infrastructure.

• The federal government needs to establish an interagency HeatSmart Grids Initiative to assess the risk of energy system failures during extreme heat and the necessary emergency responses.
• Congress should retain and expand home energy rebates, tax credits, and the Weatherization Assistance Program (WAP) to enable deep retrofits that prepare homes against power outages and cut cooling costs.
• The National Initiative to Advance Building Codes (NIABC) should be extended to accelerate state and local adoption of code language for extreme heat adaptation.

Grid Security

During extreme heatwaves, the energy grid faces increased demand and decreased energy production and transmission efficiency. Turbines can become less efficient in high temperatures, and solar power produces less electricity due to high heat slowing the flow of electrical current. Transmission lines also lose capacity to carry electricity as temperatures rise, leading to reliability issues like rolling blackouts.

Rising Demand and Grid Load

• Data centers drive stress on the grid with estimated energy consumption of 9% of US annual electricity generation by 2030.
• Peak demand during the hottest days of the year puts pressure on the U.S. electric grid, increasing power outage risk.
• A concurrent heat wave and blackout event in Phoenix, Arizona, could put 1 million residents at high risk of heat-related illness.

Power outages have significant economic costs and put human lives at risk. As we saw with 2024’s Hurricane Beryl, more than 2 million Texans lost power during a heatwave, resulting in up to $1.3 billion in damages to the electric infrastructure in the Houston area.

Advancing Solutions

The nation must make strategic investments to ensure energy reliability and foster the resilience of electric grids to weather hazards like extreme heat. Investments in resilience pay dividends, with every federal dollar spent on resilience returning $6 in societal benefits.

• The DOE Grid Resilience State and Tribal Formula Grants have strengthened grid infrastructure, developed innovative technologies, and improved community resilience against extreme weather.
• Establishing the HeatSmart Grids Initiative as a partnership between DOE, FEMA, HHS, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), NERC, and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) would ensure electric grids are prepared for extreme heat.

Increasing Household and Business Energy Costs

As temperatures rise, so do household and business energy bills to cover cooling costs. This escalation can be particularly challenging for low-income individuals, schools, and small businesses operating on thin margins.

• One in six U.S. households (21.2 million people) find themselves behind on their energy bills, increasing the risk of utility shut-offs.
• One in five households report reducing or forgoing food and medicine to pay their energy bills.

Affordably cooled homes, businesses, and schools are crucial to sustaining our economy. The federal government should expand the Weatherization Assistance Program (WAP), the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program, existing rebates and tax credits, and revise 25C to be refundable at purchase.

Advancing Solutions for Businesses, Households, and Vital Facilities

• Expand the Weatherization Assistance Program (WAP) to include passive cooling technology such as cool walls, pavements, and roofs.
• Authorize a Weatherization Readiness Program to address structural, plumbing, roofing, and electrical issues with dwelling units.
• Direct the DOE to work with its WAP contractors to ensure home energy audits consider passive cooling interventions.

Heat-Critical Programs

The federal government should provide supportive appropriations to heat-critical programs at DOE, including the Affordable Home Energy Shot, State and Community Energy Programs (SCEP), Office of Clean Energy Demonstrations (OCED), Office of Energy Efficiency & Renewable Energy (DOE), and the Home Energy Rebates program.

Expert Resources

At the Federation of American Scientists (FAS), we envision a world where the federal government deploys cutting-edge science, technology, ideas, and talent to solve and address the impacts of extreme heat. We bring expertise in embedding science, data, and technology into government decision-making and a strong network of subject matter experts in extreme heat. At FAS, you can:

• Understand evidence-based policy solutions
• Direct members and staff to relevant academic research
• Connect with issue experts to develop solutions that can immediately address the impacts of extreme heat

FAS is tackling this crisis with initiative, creativity, experimentation, and innovation, serving as a resource on environmental health policy issues. Feel free to reach out to us for more information.