As millions of Americans prepare for another brutal heatwave, it has become harder to find information about ways to stay cool while saving energy and keeping utility costs down. At least 1,662 Department of Energy webpages offering guidance on protecting the electrical grid during heatwaves have gone dark as of 3 July, according to a Guardian analysis of a list of deleted URLs provided by researchers at the Internet Archive.
Deletions Coincide with Regulatory Rollback
These removals are just the latest example of a broader pattern: information that conflicts with the administration's priorities is being removed from federal websites. The energy department deletions coincide with the Trump administration's latest push to undermine federal climate regulations. At least 18 webpages were removed within days of the proposed rollback to energy efficiency regulations for home appliances like air conditioners and heaters.
If enacted, the proposed rollback would effectively undo decades of policies that have been proven to lower household utility bills and make it much harder for the energy department to update efficiency standards for new appliances under future administrations, advocates say.
Health and Safety Concerns
“Having a functioning air conditioner is a health and safety issue for the elderly, for folks with health conditions, and for the very young,” said Andrew deLaski, executive director at the Appliance Standards Awareness Project. “Ensuring that the standards are up to date helps to keep their energy consumption under control so that people can afford to operate these products.”
It is unclear the exact day the webpages were deleted, but several news outlets have noted that the deletions seemed to come shortly after New York City mayor Zohran Mamdani suggested New Yorkers set their air conditioners to 78 degrees to reduce strain on the city's electrical grid. On 1 July, Mamdani asked New Yorkers to set their thermostats to 78 degrees amid an historic heatwave. On 2 July, the Trump administration announced a proposal to weaken energy efficiency standards for home appliances.
Scope of Deletions
Of the 1,662 deleted pages, 18 were last live on 1 and 2 July 2026, meaning they were likely deleted during those two days. Another 73 pages were last live in June, while 1,571 were last live before May 2025. The deleted webpages were filed under the department's “energy saver” section and included advice on keeping homes cool during summer, weatherstripping to seal air leaks, and other cost-saving measures. More than 300 of the webpages had over 160,000 page views in the last 30 days, according to a Guardian analysis of government web traffic data from the US General Services Administration.
Criticism and Broader Campaign
The Department of Energy did not respond to the Guardian's questions about when and why the webpages were deleted and if they were related to the proposed rule to “Permanently End Green New Scam Appliance Mandates”. For Itai Vardi, research manager at the Energy and Policy Institute, the proposed rule and website deletions are “just absurd”.
“It’s ironic that the Trump administration and Republicans love to talk about consumer choice as a tenet of American freedom, but they’re actually taking that away,” Vardi said. “What they’re doing here is rolling back the rules on energy efficiency, but also trying to hide helpful tips and information for the public, and it’s going to cost people more money.”
Since the 1970s, the Department of Energy's appliance and equipment standards program has required manufacturers to update appliances every few years. The program has been “a real success story”, said deLaski, adding that “the strain on our grid is a lot lower than it would be, and people's utility bills are a lot lower than they would be.” An analysis from his coalition found the next round of efficiency standard updates are estimated to save each household an average of $160 annually on utility bills and could significantly ease peak summer electricity demand.
This is not the first time the Trump administration has attempted to weaken energy efficiency standards. Last May, the energy department tried to repeal 47 regulations consisting mostly of energy efficiency standards for appliances. The administration also tried to end the popular Energy Star program, but the effort was blocked by both congressional Democrats and Republicans earlier this year. Critics say the webpage removals are one way the Trump administration is making the case for a broader campaign, outlined in Project 2025, to push through deregulation of the fossil fuel industry and gut the federal bureaucracy.
“It’s a senseless dedication to an anti-regulatory agenda driven by what I would say are anti-regulatory zealots,” deLaski said.
