Warren, Markey, Merkley Press Trump on Failure to Address American Families’ Rising Electricity Costs

Warren, Markey, Merkley Press Trump on Failure to Address American Families' Rising Electricity Costs

Investigation reveals Trump Administration "has no explanations for its failures and no answers for American families that are hit hard by high energy costs."

Lawmakers publish new data showing electricity costs have increased 11% since Trump took office, costing families more than $70 billion in higher utilities bills over next three years

Text of Letter (PDF) | Response from USTR (PDF) | Response from HHS (PDF) | Response from Treasury (PDF)

Washington, D.C. - U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) led Senators Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) and Ed Markey (D-Mass.) in pressing President Donald Trump on rising electricity costs hurting American families. In a new letter, the lawmakers published the Trump Administration's responses to the Senators' earlier oversight on the Administration's failures to lower energy costs. The lawmakers also published new data revealing the impacts of those failures on American families, including the fact that since Trump took office, electricity costs have increased by 11% - costing American families more than $70 billion in higher utility bills over the next three years.

"You promised that you would cut energy prices for American families. Instead, they are struggling more than ever under your watch," wrote the lawmakers. "To lower costs, your Administration should restore funding to thousands of energy projects slated to add much-needed supply to the grid, reverse costly fossil fuel plant mandates, and ensure the public continues to have access to the energy bill assistance they deserve."

The Trump administration's recent actions have exacerbated high energy prices for families, creating a massive cut in energy supply. The lawmakers published new data from the nonprofit Climate Power, revealing that the Trump administration's cuts to energy funding have cut off the energy supply needed to power more than 12 million homes. Recent data also revealed that Trump's energy funding cuts may cause the loss of more than 300,000 jobs and the cancellation of half of all energy projects planned in the U.S. this year, impacting the economy and jacking up prices for American families.

"As a result of these and other actions, energy costs have forced millions of middle-class families into 'energy poverty,'" wrote the lawmakers. "This is the wrong approach, and you should reverse course and provide Americans with the help they need to reduce energy costs, instead of making this crisis worse."

In July, the lawmakers opened an investigation into the Trump administration's failure to address rising energy costs. The lawmakers pressed each agency responsible for some aspect of the nation's energy policy - the Departments of Energy, Interior, Treasury, Commerce, Health and Human Services, and the U.S. Trade Representative - asking if the Administration had analyzed the costs that consumers would bear from the Administration's harmful policies.

"The results of this investigation reveal that - even as prices continue to rise - your Administration has no explanations for its failures and no answers for American families that are hit hard by high energy costs," wrote the lawmakers.

Neither the Department of Energy nor the Department of the Interior responded, evading basic questions about the Administration's decision-making. Other agencies offered nothing but platitudes, including the Treasury Department and the Department of Health and Human Services. U.S. Trade Ambassador Greer admitted that trade policies have "impacts on industries like energy that affect consumers" but confirmed that his agency had not conducted any "specific analyses related to energy pricing."

The lawmakers slammed the responses as "disappointing," concluding that the Trump administration has "no explanations for its failures and no answers for American families that are hit hard by high energy costs, and it continues to actively pursue policies to make this cost crisis worse."

Read the full Climate Power report here.

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