Key Points:
-
The cost of electricity is rising across the country, forcing Americans to pay more on their monthly bills and squeezing manufacturers and small businesses that rely on cheap power.
- In 2020, 34 million households reported difficulties in paying their energy bills or said they kept their homes at unsafe temperatures because of cost concerns.
-
Trump’s policies risk making things worse, despite his promises to slash energy prices.
-
This week, the Senate is taking up Trump’s domestic policy bill (which has already passed the House). In its current form, that bill would abruptly end most federal tax credits for low-carbon sources of electricity like wind, solar, batteries and geothermal power.
- Repealing those credits could increase the average family’s energy bill by as much as $400 per year within a decade, according to several studies.
-
Electricity demand is surging for the first time in decades, partly because of data centers needed for AI, and power companies are already struggling to keep up.
- Ending tax breaks for solar panels, wind turbines and batteries would make them more expensive and less plentiful, increasing demand for energy from power plants that burn natural gas.
- That could push up the price of gas, which currently generates 43% of America’s electricity.
-
On top of that, the Trump administration’s efforts to sell more gas overseas could further hike prices, while his tariffs on steel, aluminum and other materials would raise the cost of transmission lines and other electrical equipment.
- These cascading events could lead to further painful increases in electric bills.
-
The crunch comes as the Trump administration wants to end the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program, a $4 billion federal fund that helps 6.2 million people from Texas to Maine pay for high heating and cooling bills. The White House called the program “unnecessary,” and said families would be helped by policies that lowered energy prices.
Source: Bash1991