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Trump’s Energy Price Hike: Energy Prices ‘Tracking Toward Unseen Heights’ as Trump Ramps Up Attacks on Clean Energy

Press Contact: Seth Nelson

A new report from the conservative think tank American Enterprise Institute, highlighted today in POLITICO Pro, warns that energy prices are “tracking toward heights unseen since the 1990s.” This follows a recent survey showing Americans expect inflation to rise, citing “price pressures driven in part by a surge in the costs of eggs and energy-related expenses.” Despite Trump’s campaign promise to cut energy prices in half, his actions in office tell a different story— attacking clean energy projects that lower household costs while lining the pockets of his Big Oil donors.

ICYMI: POLITICO Pro: Electricity prices are spiking. That’s a problem for Trump.

By: Brian Dabbs
February 26, 2025

Key Points:

  • President Donald Trump’s campaign promise to cut energy costs in half is facing a daunting reality. Electricity prices are tracking toward heights unseen since the 1990s when factoring in inflation, according to a new report from the conservative think tank American Enterprise Institute (AEI).

  • David Michael Tinsley, senior economist at Bank of America Institute, said in a research note Friday that “utility bill payments continue to grow at elevated rates.”

  • Trump so far has cracked down on renewables and blown up U.S. climate policy, arguing that more fossil fuels like natural gas will drive down costs for Americans. But experts say it's not that simple. Gas supporters are calling for more federal support to modernize the sector, while critics say Trump should embrace low-cost wind and solar and dole out rebates for home upgrades if he wants to bring down energy costs.

  • Federal funding for transmission and other projects is unclear after the president issued an Inauguration Day executive order to halt money for the “Green New Deal,” a reference to efforts to decarbonize the U.S. and push other social policies.

  • Despite court decisions to force disbursement, project developers are reporting challenges in obtaining some grant money authorized under Biden.

  • For now, Americans are girding. Rates will jump dramatically this year for many customers in PJM Interconnection, a 13-state electricity grid operator in the mid Atlantic and Midwest.

  • “I don’t see how any of the Trump administration policies could realistically reduce electricity prices for consumers,” said Michelle Solomon, manager of the electricity program at the research firm Energy Innovation. “It seems like the Trump administration is trying to put its thumb on the scales for certain resources over others versus letting the market dictate which resources are the cheapest.”

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