AC Costs Will Finally Be Covered for Public Housing Resident

image via New Scientist

June 25, 2024, 6:00 PM

• •The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) has long refused to pay cooling costs for public housing, but climate-change-fueled heat waves have underscored the public health need.
• •The Biden administration is taking a significant step toward protecting the nation’s 1.6 million public housing residents from heat by agreeing to pay air conditioning costs for those who ask.
• •HUD has long required most residents to pay air conditioning bills under a policy established decades ago when cooling was considered a luxury and before global warming pushed temperatures to record highs.

The Biden administration is helping public housing residents pay for cooling. The move comes as advocates urge HUD to go one step further and formally agree to pay all residents’ air conditioning costs regardless of whether they request help. HUD has long required most residents to pay air conditioning bills under a policy established decades ago when cooling was considered a luxury and before global warming pushed temperatures to record highs. The new decision could help hundreds of thousands of residents. Roughly 80 percent of public-housing units have air conditioning.

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