Trump tariffs and green energy rollbacks push household electricity bills up 10%

The Guardian

20 hours ago

Household electricity bills have increased by 10% since Donald Trump re-entered the White House, a new report has found, with its authors highlighting the impact of the president's data center boosterism and cuts to clean energy projects as part of the cause.
The analysis comes as the the US energy secretary Chris Wright said he knows rising energy prices could be a political challenge for the GOP ahead of next years midterm elections, but claimed Democrats were to blame for the cost increases.
'The momentum of the Obama-Biden policies, for sure that destruction is going to continue in the coming years,' he told Politico in an interview published Tuesday. 'That momentum is pushing prices up right now. And who's going to get blamed for it? We're going to get blamed because we're in office.'
Trump has repeatedly promised to lower utility bills. And in his Politico interview, Wright insisted that the Trump administration's war on renewable energy is not inflating electricity costs.
But studies have found that Trump's pro-fossil fuel, anti-renewable energy policies will raise prices. A July report from climate thinktank Energy Innovation, for instance, found that Republicans' spending megabill which the president signed last month could increase wholesale electricity prices by as much as 74%, largely due to its repeal of many Biden-era green energy incentives.
According to the new report from advocacy group Climate Power, which is based on an analysis of data from the US Energy Information Administration, those price increases are already beginning to take hold.
'Republicans are fueling an energy crisis and inflicting a massive utility bill hike on Americans across the country,' said Climate Power senior advisor Jesse Lee. 'This is nothing short of a betrayal of their own voters. Families are losing jobs while their bills climb, all because Republicans would rather protect their donors than lower costs.'
The average price of household energy increased by roughly 10% from 15.95 cents per kW-hour in January 2025 to 17.47 cents per kW-hour in May 2025, Climate Power found. Household gas prices have risen by a stunning 56% over the same period.
Electricity prices were 6% higher in May 2025 than in the same month of last year, while gas prices rose by 8% over the same period.
Some regions have seen even higher spikes in cost. In New Jersey, rates skyrocketed by 20% in June.
The Guardian has contacted the Department of Energy for comment.
Among the reasons for the increase are Trump's new tariffs, as well as his undercutting of inexpensive renewable energy sources like wind and solar. Rising energy demand driven by data centers for artificial intelligence – which Trump has promoted – also play a role, the report says, as do rising temperatures amid the climate crisis, to which federal officials are contributing with their deregulatory policies.
More recent anti-environmental moves from the administration threaten to further increase prices, Climate Power says. Last week, for instance, the treasury department released a rewrite of decades-old standards for how renewable energy projects can qualify for cost-cutting credits, potentially threatening the viability of many clean energy developments.
Although the president promised to spur job growth, those policies are also reducing employment, the new report found: Since his election, 64,000 jobs in renewable energy sectors have already been cut or paused.
'Companies have canceled, delayed, or laid off staff at 123 energy projects in 33 states, representing over $33.87bn in lost investment,' the report says, adding that the gutting will also continue to increase utility prices.
Families are losing jobs while their bills climb, all because Republicans would rather protect their donors than lower costs,' said Lee. 'This report details just how badly this bill is hurting Americans – and we're going to make sure they know who to blame when they open higher utility bills this month.'