Press Releases

Trump’s Energy Price Hike: Tax Megabill Will Trigger “Painful Increases” in Energy Bills, Per NYT

Press Contact: Seth Nelson

New reporting from The New York Times reveals that the GOP’s sweeping tax megabill, which repeals clean energy tax credits, could drive up the average American family’s energy bill by as much as $400 a year within a decade—and that Trump’s policies “risk making things worse.” Abruptly ending tax credits for solar, wind, and battery storage would slow deployment and raise costs, forcing greater reliance on expensive, volatile fossil fuels. Trump’s tariffs are also making it more costly to build transmission lines and electrical equipment, while his push to fast-track liquefied “natural” gas exports is sending more gas overseas, driving up prices at home.

Despite his promise to cut energy bills in half, Trump’s agenda is actively sabotaging ratepayers across the country by destabilizing markets, raising costs, and slowing clean energy buildout. If his “Big Beautiful” catastrophe becomes law, The Times warns these cascading effects “could lead to further painful increases in electricity bills.”

ICYMI: The New York Times: Electricity Prices Are Surging. The G.O.P. Megabill Could Push Them Higher.

By: Brad Plumer and Rebecca F. Elliott
June 4, 2025

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.

  • And some of President Trump’s policies risk making things worse, despite his promises to slash energy prices, companies and researchers say.

  • This week, the Senate is taking up Mr. Trump’s sweeping domestic policy bill, which has already passed the House. In its current form, that bill would abruptly end most of the Biden-era 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 published this year.

  • The studies rely on similar reasoning: Electricity demand is surging for the first time in decades, partly because of data centers needed for artificial intelligence, 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 percent of America’s electricity.

  • On top of that, the Trump administration’s efforts to sell more gas overseas could further hike prices, while Mr. Trump’s new 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.

  • 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.

  • 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.

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