As climate change makes extreme heat more frequent and dangerous, states are building systems to manage a hazard they weren't historically built to handle. The big picture: In a growing number of states, officials are appointing heat officers, writing statewide plans, setting worker protections, funding cooling infrastructure, and coordinating responses across agencies. Driving the news: July was the hottest month ever measured in the contiguous U.S., with every Lower 48 state above its 20th-century average. - The speed at which states have ramped up their response to extreme heat has been "stunning," V. Kelly Turner, associate director of heat research at the UCLA Luskin Center for Innovation, told Axios. - "Heat's everywhere, but…
America's answer to hotter summers has overwhelmingly been more air conditioning, and engineers are now looking for ways to keep people cool without driving up electricity demand. Why it matters: The need for cooling is surging. The issue isn't just how to generate more electricity — it's how to use less of it and ease demand when grids are most strained. Between the lines: A July study finds that keeping buildings cool without relying solely on AC will be critical for adapting to climate change. - AC is already nearly ubiquitous in the U.S., but that doesn't mean its electricity consumption has peaked. - "The market is saturated, but the use of air conditioning or the energy consumption for air conditioning will increase because…
Image: MASSIVE VICTORY AGAINST THE CLIMATE CULT! Fifth Circuit SHUTS DOWN Illegal Biden-Era Energy Efficiency Standards for Stoves and Cooktops – Slams DOE for Trying to Bypass the Law! Related: High Arctic Sets 36 Cold [...]
Mayor Zohran Mamdani and state transit officials announced a plan to study a heat-capture system that could cool a notoriously hot train station and help heat city buildings in the winter.
Ten U.S. states have legalized systems that can be plugged into standard wall outlets. The technology typically does not require permits or electricians.
A series of dangerous heat waves this summer — including one that has left 17 states under an emergency federal order — are putting the electric grid under an intense real-world stress test. Why it matters: Successive summer heat waves are forcing utilities to rethink how they prepare the grid for longer and more frequent periods of extreme stress. - They're raising questions about whether the electric grid can keep pace with surging demand from both climate change and the AI-driven electricity boom. State of play: Heat waves create a double challenge by increasing electricity demand for air-conditioning while reducing the efficiency of some power plants. Zoom in: Texas has become one of the nation's biggest proving grounds for…
The Trump administration is undoing fuel-saving efforts even as war in Iran, data centers and heat waves are pushing up gasoline and electricity costs.
Electricity demand is becoming the clearest measure of the AI industry's extraordinary expansion — and a test of how long that pace can last. Why it matters: The industry's pursuit of ever-larger models is fueling debate over whether they will deliver enough value to justify mounting environmental and financial costs. Driving the news: Google, Microsoft and Amazon all highlighted improved energy and water efficiency in sustainability reports released in recent weeks. - But those gains are being overwhelmed by overall growth. Stunning stat: Google's electricity consumption rose more than 140% between 2021 and 2025 — already exceeding the outer bounds of projected growth modeled in a 2023 paper by Alex de Vries-Gao, a researcher at…