Cheaper Heat is a newsletter about why heat has never really been cheap, and what it would take to make it affordable, clean, and just.

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Cheaper Heat, then, is a newsletter about why heat has never really been cheap, and what it would take to make it affordable, clean, and just. I use “heat” as shorthand for thermal comfort: keeping homes warm when it is cold and cool when extreme heat makes indoor temperatures dangerous. Cooling in many places is no longer a luxury, but an essential, life-saving service. As extreme heat becomes more frequent and severe, this will only become more true, and “right to cooling” policies will become as urgent as “right to heat” policies. And since heat pumps perform both heating and cooling functions, I will be addressing both heating and cooling throughout this newsletter. In addition, I will explore energy bills, utility profits, gas infrastructure, environmental justice, labor, electrification, thermal energy networks, and the rules that decide who pays for what.