Michelle Rochniak | 6/26/2025
Winter heating and summer cooling use a substantial amount of energy in your home. But which costs more on average?
You’d think this simple question would have a simple answer. But the kind of energy you use in the winter probably isn’t the same energy you use in the summer. And when looking for averages, your neighbors may not use the same energy as you in either season or at all. Energy sources won’t have the answers we need — we have to observe our climate instead.
Imagine if it was over 90°F every single day for all of July this year. That’s the amount of 90°F or higher days (over the course of a year) that Region 5 of New York may experience by the end of the 2020s.
The Hudson River Estuary Program (HREP) estimates that, by the end of the decade, Region 5 (the green area) will have 26 to 31 days that are 90°F yearly. Region 2 of New York (the orange area on the map) will have 19 to 25 days a year that are above 90°F. These numbers are double the 10-12 days above 90°F each region had in the baseline era of 1971-2000.
As for days at or below 32°F, Region 2 will have 108-116 by the end of the decade compared to 138 in the baseline era. Region 5 will have 127 -136 as compared to 155 before. That’s a loss of almost three weeks of at or below freezing temperatures in both regions.
While that indicates we’ll need less heating in the winters, we’ll need more energy to stay cool in the summers as well. Regions 2 and 5 used to have 1-2 heat waves a year with 4 days each during the baseline era. But by the end of the decade, both regions could have 3 or 4 heat waves a year — with 5 days each.
In 2020, environmental health scientists at Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health and the University of Washington published a study that examined severe weather-driven power outages in New York State between 2017 and 2020. The study suggests that, of all urban areas outside of New York City, the Hudson Valley and Long Island had the most severe weather-driven power outages. And power outages are more likely to happen when temperatures go above 86°F in all non-NYC urban areas. That means more power outages in Kingston are more likely as we see more days of 90°F or higher per year.
Our current backup generator system is also not enough. The energy grid is relatively stable for now. But when we do need backup energy, we tend to use diesel generators. Those generators cause a lot of air pollution and can further endanger our neighbors’ health.
While everyone will feel these changes, they’ll hit historically marginalized communities the most — who have already experienced the brunt of climate change up until and including now. It’s irresponsible to create a future where this is still the case.
While it isn’t clear what will cost more, summer cooling will likely use more resources as temperatures rise with energy costs. But no one, especially marginalized communities, should have to pay this rising price. If we don’t change now, we’ll keep contributing to an unjust, exclusive energy system.
The statistics that back up our current climate path aren’t easy to understand either. They’re buried behind paywalls. They require interpretation and analysis. It doesn’t matter if the information exists if it’s not available to the general public. Access and context are crucial.
But understanding energy and creating a climate-resilient future doesn’t have to be difficult. At Mid-Hudson Energy Transition, we’re committed to working with communities to make this information easy to understand. We’re making clean energy more accessible through our community solar program. We’re expanding our community education efforts so everyone has access to information. After all, an informed public is a powerful public.
