American households are heading into the most expensive cooling season on record, with the national average summer electric bill projected at $792. In Arizona, where air conditioning runs nearly around the clock from June through September, that figure could reach $1,060. The state is simultaneously contending with a deadly heat crisis: Maricopa County recorded 608 heat-related deaths in 2024, a toll that makes affordable electricity a life-or-death issue for hundreds of thousands of residents.
Record summer bills collide with Arizona’s heat death toll
The federal government tracks residential electricity prices through its Electric Power Monthly dataset, which compiles Form EIA-861M submissions from utilities nationwide. Those price series show residential rates climbing across regions, with the Southwest posting some of the steepest seasonal increases. When higher per-kilowatt-hour costs meet extreme cooling demand, the result is a summer bill that can dwarf what households in milder climates pay.
Arizona’s problem is not just cost but consequence. The Maricopa County Department of Public Health documented 608 heat-related deaths in 2024 alone. Many of those deaths involved people who lost access to cooling, whether because equipment failed, power was cut, or bills grew too large to pay. The county continues to publish heat surveillance data through its public health portal, and its final 2025 heat-related deaths report is expected to add to that grim tally.
Two recent state actions aim to blunt the financial pressure. According to the Arizona Corporation Commission, Commissioner Kevin Thompson announced a temporary bill credit for UNS Electric customers, effective May 1, 2026 through December 31, 2026, that is expected to cut the average monthly bill by roughly 38 percent compared to last summer. Separately, Attorney General Kris Mayes secured a $7 million settlement with Arizona Public Service over disconnection practices during extreme heat, a deal that includes customer credits and a temperature-based shutoff policy.
The open question is whether those two programs, taken together, will translate into fewer heat-related emergencies. Arizona households receiving both the UNS credit and APS settlement relief should, in theory, face less pressure to ration cooling. If those customers show measurably lower rates of heat-related emergency visits this summer than comparable non-participating households, it would offer the first direct evidence linking utility bill relief to reduced heat mortality risk, independent of overall temperature variation. No agency has yet designed a study to test that connection, which means the data may exist but go unanalyzed.
Bill credits, settlement dollars, and the limits of available relief
The Arizona Corporation Commission has reminded ratepayers that the state’s summer disconnection moratorium runs from June 1, 2026 through October 15, 2026. During that window, regulated utilities cannot shut off power for nonpayment. The ACC also directs residents to LIHEAP and other bill assistance programs, though eligibility thresholds and funding levels vary and often fall short of total need.
The UNS Electric credit and the APS settlement address different parts of the problem. The UNS program lowers ongoing monthly costs for a defined group of customers in the state’s hotter, more rural service territories. The APS settlement, by contrast, focuses on how and when the largest investor-owned utility can disconnect customers, layering financial credits on top of new rules that limit shutoffs during periods of dangerous heat.
Neither intervention, however, fully shields low-income households from volatility in summer bills. The UNS credit is temporary and tied to a specific utility, leaving many Arizonans under other providers exposed to rising rates. The APS settlement is backward-looking in that it responds to past disconnections, and its credits are finite. Once those funds are exhausted, customers will again rely on standard assistance programs and whatever permanent policy changes regulators adopt.
Advocates argue that the state’s patchwork of protections leaves gaps at precisely the moments when heat risk peaks. Renters whose cooling is bundled into their lease may not benefit from utility credits at all, yet they still face the health consequences of inadequate air conditioning. Residents in unregulated or smaller service areas can encounter different rules on shutoffs and payment plans, creating a geography of unequal protections across the state.
Public health experts say that turning these financial tools into measurable reductions in illness and death will require closer coordination between agencies. Utility regulators have detailed data on disconnections, arrearages, and usage patterns. Health departments track emergency room visits, hospitalizations, and deaths attributed to heat. To date, those datasets are rarely combined in a way that could show, for example, whether a neighborhood with high disconnection rates also experiences disproportionate heat-related mortality.
Designing such analyses would not be purely academic. If researchers can demonstrate that specific bill credits or shutoff rules significantly reduce heat-related emergencies, regulators would have a stronger case for making those protections permanent or expanding them to additional utilities. Conversely, if the data show limited impact, policymakers might need to look beyond bill relief toward building upgrades, weatherization, and community cooling centers as primary tools for protecting residents.
For now, Arizona enters another brutal summer with more safeguards than it had a few years ago, but still without a comprehensive strategy that treats electricity as essential infrastructure in a warming climate. The coming months will test whether temporary credits, settlement dollars, and a seasonal moratorium can keep vulnerable households safely cool-or merely delay a reckoning with the true cost of surviving the desert heat.
Free tool for readers: Most people don’t find out they’re off track until it’s too late. You can see where your retirement stands with a free Retirement Safety Score in about five minutes — no sign-up required to see it.
