Remote workers' energy bills are rising. Should employers reimburse them?

The shift to remote work during the pandemic has led to higher utility bills for workers whose residences have been doubling as offices since COVID-19 began spreading and Americans were forced to isolate at home. 

Now, in addition to powering their cell phones, computers and other work tools during the 9-to-5 period, homebound professionals are cranking up their air conditioners as temperatures rise across the U.S. "When people are at home you're opening the fridge, making coffee, cooking meals you would otherwise have had at the cafeteria or out. So, in general, being home entails using a lot more residential electricity," said Steve Cicala, a professor of economics at Tufts University who specializes in energy and environmental economics. "Heating and cooling and weather is a part of it, too. As it gets hotter, you are cooling entire houses instead of a business — and that means using more power."