InProgress

from the Center for American Progress

In this edition:

• Extreme heat waves mean electric bills are skyrocketing. CAP has a plan to lower your costs. 
• ICYMI: The Supreme Court’s 2025–26 term was disastrous for democracy.
  
• CAP’s Accessible Democracy Tracker identifies barriers to accessible voting and ways to improve election accessibility for disabled Americans.
  

Thinking about your summer heat wave bill? CAP has a plan to lower your electricity bills ⚡⬇️

The extreme heat wave millions of Americans experienced over Fourth of July weekend is not normal. Climate change is exacerbating extreme heat across the country, burdening families by driving up utility bills while also straining ecosystems and putting Americans’ health at risk. Unfortunately, increased summer temperatures from fossil-fueled climate change could mean that Americans have already experienced the coolest summer of their lifetime.

Extreme heat is just one of the reasons why Americans’ electricity bills are at an all-time high. In 2025, electricity prices rose at more than twice the rate of overall inflation and were one of the fastest drivers of inflation, outpacing other common expenses, such as groceries and medicine. And this problem will continue to worsen: Under current policies, nationwide average residential electricity rates are projected to increase by nearly 18 percent before the end of this presidential term and are on track to increase by more than 37 percent before the end of the next presidential term.

Because of increasing utility and energy costs, in a recent poll, 39 percent of respondents stated they have changed how often they use air conditioning or electricity, and 36 percent stated they now lower their heat below comfortable levels. This change in behavior could put residents in greater risk as the number of extreme heat waves increases. 

CAP’s solution to rising costs

Earlier this year, the Center for American Progress proposed an American Electricity Affordability Plan for providing immediate relief and investment to lower electricity prices and deliver around $900 per household in savings over four years.

CAP’s plan for electricity affordability includes a rate relief fund to provide public funding for cost-effective electricity system improvements to states that choose to freeze or lower residential electricity rates, a national AI data center fair-share policy, and a program of reforms and investments to build a larger and more efficient power system. Together, the combination of immediate relief and longer-term investment would deliver savings directly to residential consumers and build a resilient, capable, flexible, clean, and affordable electricity system for the United States.

Recapping the Supreme Court term and its decisions that undermine American democracy

Photo: Getty Images

Once again, the U.S. Supreme Court term concluded with several major cases that undermine Congress, unduly empower the presidency, and leave the American people exposed to abuses by government and corporate special interests.

Though certain decisions did not go as far as democracy advocates feared, the court continued its trend of eroding Americans’ rights and freedoms. In Louisiana v. Callais, it struck a powerful blow to Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act (VRA). And Trump v. Slaughter overturned an almost 100-year-old precedent, fundamentally upending the ability of federal agencies to protect the public and putting unprecedented power in the president’s hands.

This term, the Supreme Court: 

• Undermined voting rights: Louisiana v. Callais drastically weakened Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act.
  
• Expanded presidential power: Trump v. Slaughter stripped Congress’ authority to prevent the president from unilaterally removing people serving on bipartisan multimember boards or commissions.
  
• Weakened the rights of immigrants: Urias-Orellana v. Bondi made it more difficult for asylum-seekers to challenge status denials by immigration judges, and Mullin v. Doe allowed the administration to cancel Temporary Protected Status and remove hundreds of thousands of immigrants who have lawfully resided in the United States for years.
  
• Limited lawsuits against powerful entities: Monsanto v. Durnell held that individuals cannot sue corporations that fail to put warnings on their products.
  

Mapping Disabled Americans’ Access to Voting

“Voting is supposed to be a private, independent process, and when I couldn’t enter the building or had to complete my ballot from my vehicle, I felt that independence slip away.”

- Hope R., a disabled voter from Mississippi

Hope’s story echoes around the country: Disabled Americans have long faced barriers to exercising their right to vote. Between 2021 and 2024, states passed a total of 79 restrictive voting laws, including measures in Texas and Georgia that limit who may assist disabled and older adult voters with completing and returning their ballots. Barriers like these are detrimental for the estimated 40.2 million disabled people with disabilities who were eligible to vote in the 2024 election. 

As part of the Center for American Progress’ continued work on disabled people’s access to voting democracy, this project surveyed disability and civic organizations across the country to evaluate voting accessibility in each state. The authors used the data to create an interactive Accessible Democracy Tracker, which provides users with comprehensive, state-specific voting and election accessibility scores based on survey data from state and local disability and civic organizations. The tracker also offers stories from disabled voters across the country, national and state action targets, and national and state disability and civic organizations to whom users can turn for more information on voting accessibility efforts.