A US Department of Energy webpage that recommended setting home thermostats between 75 and 78 degrees Fahrenheit to cut energy use has disappeared from federal servers in early July, during one of the most severe heatwaves in years. The department has not said whether the removal was deliberate, part of a routine update, or an error.
What was removed
The page, part of the department's long-running Energy Saver consumer guidance, advised households to "start with an indoor temperature between 75-78°F during the day" and offered other steps to lower cooling bills and ease demand on the electricity grid. The page was accessible through late June but returned a "page not found" message by early July, Newsweek reported. The Department of Energy did not respond to questions about the change.
The timing drew attention because it came during a heatwave in which the National Weather Service issued extreme-heat warnings across more than two dozen states, and shortly after New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani urged residents to set air conditioners to 78 degrees to reduce strain on the power grid. That advice, similar to guidance issued by federal agencies and past city officials, was criticized by some conservative commentators as government overreach.
Part of a wider pattern
Supporters of higher summer thermostat settings, including many utilities, describe the 78-degree guideline as a standard way to save money and limit grid stress at peak demand. Critics of the page's removal argue that taking down conservation advice in the middle of a heat emergency risks pushing up electricity use exactly when the grid is least able to cope.
The episode fits a broader pattern that predates this heatwave. Since 2025, the federal government has removed or restricted access to a range of climate-related resources, including national climate assessment reports taken off government websites. Officials have said at various points that some material would be preserved elsewhere to comply with the law, though researchers and former officials say much of it has not reappeared.
The heat backdrop
The dispute is unfolding against a genuinely dangerous stretch of weather. The heatwave gripping much of the central and eastern United States over the July 4 weekend pushed temperatures toward or past 100 degrees Fahrenheit in several major cities, with high humidity worsening the effect. Heat is consistently among the deadliest forms of weather in the country, which is part of why the availability, or absence, of official guidance on staying cool has become a point of contention.
