Welcome to the new Energy Central — same great community, now with a smoother experience. To login, use your Energy Central email and reset your password.

Thu, Aug 21

NEWS: Trump administration increasingly sees rising electricity prices as a political liability

Electric bills are rising twice as fast as inflation, and everyone in DC has their own idea of who’s to blame and what’s to be done. Here’s a sampler of how the fight is playing out:

  • Chris Wright, Energy Secretary: “We’re going to get blamed because we’re in office,” but the real culprit is “Obama-Biden policies.”

  • Ted Thomas, former Arkansas grid official: “The administration will have to choose between promoting fossil fuel consumption or protecting consumers.”

  • Sen. Brian Schatz (D-HI): Power prices are a “midterm liability” for Republicans.

  • Green groups blame the GOP’s repeal of renewables tax credits, which they say puts more upward pressure on bills.

  • Analysts point to tariffs, uneconomic coal mandates, and soaring demand as the real drivers.

1