As the campfire smell thickened into a smoky haze over central New Jersey this week, Kathy Jackson closed all the windows and turned on the air conditioner. If it had been one of this regions increasingly brutal summer heat waves, she might have turned off the energy-hungry appliance once the sun went down and reopened the windows to catch a breeze.

But the wildfire smoke drifting south from Canadas record-breaking infernos doesnt wane when the sun sets. And getting too many of those tiny airborne particles in her airways could be deadly for Jackson, an asthmatic who suffers from severe chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

For a senior on a fixed income, running the AC or an air purifier all day and night would be financially devastating had she not recently switched to a fixed-price utility bill.

There was a time I was paying $1,700 in the summer, Jackson, who is nearly 70 years old, said by phone on Wednesday afternoon. Now, with this program, its substantially less. I have asthma. I also have COPD. I have it really, really bad. This fire situation

She trailed off and let out a wheezing cough. We had to close all our windows and everything, she said. Its scary.

Millions of people are still paying exorbitant electricity rates as wildfires blanket broad swaths of the continent with the most toxic air theyve experienced in nearly a quarter-century . Unlike at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, when public health officials urged vulnerable Americans to stay inside but keep fresh air circulating, breathing easy in this latest disaster in a part of the country that hasnt experienced wildfires comes at a steep price and at just the moment when the cost of everything else is soaring.

The densely populated U.S. Northeast, where the smoke is pouring in from Canada, already pays electricity rates far above the national average as states like New York and Massachusetts shut down nuclear power plants and grow more dependent on natural gas, the price of which has fluctuated wildly since Russias invasion of Ukraine sparked a global energy crisis.

Power prices are on pace to keep climbing in the coming years as government policies to cut climate-changing pollution increase demands on the grid for electric vehicles, stovetops and heating systems to say nothing of the spikes that come from air conditioning on days when those without it risk roasting to death.

As average global temperatures continue their steady ascent and flames engulf woodlands at scales and frequencies previously unseen in human history, the need for more artificially cleansed air is only likely to grow.

In a bid to slow the novel coronavirus spread, nearly every U.S. state prohibited utilities from shutting off service to households that fell behind on bills in 2020. But those bans, which never extended similar protections to many rural Americans, have now ended in most places, leaving millions with enormous debts, despite limited government relief packages .

Low-income households are once again facing very high electricity bills, said John Howat, a senior energy analyst at the National Consumer Law Center, a watchdog group in Boston. For those without options other than to close the windows and perhaps switch on an air conditioner, that could create expenses that are going to be very difficult to manage. Not only during this event, but throughout the summer.