When Alek Micklethwait received his electricity bill in May, he was stunned. It was $545, more than double what his family had been paying during cooler weather.

It must be a mistake, he thought. But it wasn’t.

“As Texans’ Electricity Costs Soar and Temperatures Rise, a Public Health Crisis Brews” is the first article of Public Health Watch’s new series, Powerless, that investigates why electricity costs in Texas are rising, who is falling through the cracks, how extreme indoor heat impacts health, and what can be done to mitigate this public health crisis.

Read the article on Public Health Watch.