The cost of staying cool: How extreme heat is costing Americans more than ever

More than 160 million people in the West, Southeast, Mid-Atlantic and parts of New England are living under a heat alert as record high temperatures are being broken. For much of the U.S., this summer's forecast will keep residents under the comforting, cool stream of their air-conditioning units.

But staying comfortable during harsh summers comes at an increasingly steep cost for consumers. In-unit air conditioning can rack up the electricity bill, forcing some families to choose between food and protection from the heat.

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A recent report from the California Department of Insurance tallies the total economic loss from extreme heat events in the past decade. Between 2013 and 2022, extreme heat cost the state $7.7 billion in lost wages, decreased productivity, agricultural and manufacturing disruptions, power outages, and damages to infrastructure.

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"Extrapolated nationally, heat event days would be responsible for almost 235,000 emergency department visits and more than 56,000 hospital admissions for heat-related or heat-adjacent illness, adding approximately $1 billion in health care costs each summer," the report stated.