TRANSCRIPT: Leader Schumer Unveils Democrats’ Agenda To Cut Americans’ Energy Costs As Trump Sends Prices Soaring

Washington, D.C. - Today, Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), at the League of Conservation Voters Capital Dinner, unveiled Senate Democrats' plan to cut American families' energy costs as Trump's war in Iran and assault on clean energy sends energy prices soaring. Electricity prices have skyrocketed in nearly every state because of Trump's failed policies. Below is a transcript of Leader Schumer's remarks:

It's been a very difficult 14 months, and we've all seen the terrible, terrible things that Donald Trump has done to clean energy and climate action. We remember his devil's bargain to Big Oil. He's got such gall, he said in public to Harold Hamm and the Big Oil guys: raise me a billion dollars, and I will give you a sweet deal. These Big Oil guys fund much of the Republican Party and they hate clean energy because they're all into oil and gas and coal, and they know clean energy is the future and is going to end their billions.

This week, Donald Trump, you know when you think this guy can't get any lower, he does. He said he'll pay TotalEnergies, the French energy company, a billion dollars to give up their offshore wind leases and instead invest in oil and gas. He is effectively paying a company to walk away from offshore wind-to walk away from good paying union jobs, to walk away from vital economic activity-and put money back into fossil fuels. Disgraceful. Disgraceful. His EPA is tearing up the legal bedrock for all federal climate regulations by overturning the endangerment finding. And his administration attacked nearly $84 billon in clean energy investments-disconnecting enough power for 14 million homes, killing more than 170,000 jobs.

This is corruption right down to its rotten core. And it's raising people's energy costs, hurting our environment. We need to put a stop to it. We need to fight for lower costs! We need to protect our planet! And we need to elect a Democratic Senate in 2026.

Now one of best things we can do long term of course is tackle the climate crisis. Climate change makes everything expensive-groceries, healthcare, energy, property insurance. I will never waver on this responsibility to tackle climate change head on. Now, more than ever, leaders in Washington must pledge their commitment to climate action. Nor will Democrats waver on our fight to lower costs during these hard times.

But let me be clear: Trump's attacks on clean energy - and the price spikes it caused for American families - is a unique opportunity to expand our movement. We can make a marriage between lower costs and clean energy. That will expand our coalition. We can bring new voters and allies into the fight for a cleaner environment by showing how clean energy is affordable energy. How clean energy lowers their costs, their electric bills, their food costs, and so much else. Working class voters, middle class voters, small businesses - these are new allies we can and will enlist in our fight.

Trump is taking clean energy off the grid -Americans are feeling the pain. But with this new expanded coalition, putting us back in the majority, we have an opportunity to put forward new policy solutions, strong policy solutions, that tell the American people that can both lower costs and make real progress on climate change because clean energy is affordable energy. It's the cheapest and fastest way to add energy to the grid, and reduces our emissions at the same time. This is what we can do with our new coalition.

I want to share my vision for the five things a Senate Democratic Majority will do to lower energy costs for the American people. And those five things are:

First, we must affirm that clean energy is affordable energy, we need to build more not less.

Second, we need permitting certainty and simplicity for clean energy.

Third, we must upgrade our aging grid with transmission and storage.

Fourth, data centers must pay their fair share costs and promote healthy communities and costs.

And fifth, we must provide systematic protection for consumers from rising prices.

Now let me go through each one at a time and give you more detail, they're so important to us, so important.

First, clean energy is affordable energy, and we need to build more not less. And one of the very first things I will do when we retake the majority is restore the clean energy tax credits from the IRA. Folks, it was one of my proudest moments when I emerged from that little room in the basement of the Capitol with none other than Joe Manchin to propose and then pass the greatest legislation that changed climate and worked for clean energy greater than any legislation ever passed. Now the Rs, the Republicans took it away. We will put it back and go even further. Clean energy also includes incentives to make sure these projects produce good union jobs, which again, expands our coalition.

Democrats will also work to bring down costs by alleviating the underlying pain points that are driving up the cost of clean energy in the first place - from grid bottlenecks to supply chain constraints. And when I say, "clean energy", I don't mean only solar and wind. I also mean clean firm power - like geothermal, nuclear, and even fusion energy - using new funding mechanisms we will pass, that limit taxpayer expense while maximizing innovation and deployment.

And we also must restore and expand support for individuals to produce their own energy, providing security and resilience at home, all while lowering costs and protecting and empowering workers.

Second, we need permitting certainty and simplicity for clean energy, which will mean more investments and lower costs. Trump's ongoing attacks on clean energy projects creates massive uncertainty for workers, developers, investors. Again: Trump has hundreds and hundreds of solar projects awaiting basic permits, leaving hundreds of thousands of workers and so many communities hanging. Democrats will provide legislative certainty for clean energy projects, so workers and investors can rebuild the clean energy project ecosystem that Trump has tried to destroy. We also must work to make it easier for clean energy projects to move through the permitting process, including transmission and distribution infrastructure - the wires that move all that clean energy.

Democrats want to find ways to reward the best projects, like the ones that engage with communities early on and that enter into strong agreements with our partners in the labor community. And of course, permitting reform never, never must come at the expense of our obligation to protect local communities and safeguard the environment. I want to thank Senators Whitehouse and Heinrich on our team for their leadership on this issue. I have confidence that under the guidance of these senators, we will make sure that we get this done.

Third, we must upgrade our aging grid with more transmission and storage. Our grid is old, it's inefficient, and that inefficiency drives up costs. While Trump is cancelling federal funds for grid projects, Democrats want to take immediate action to deploy low-cost and quickly adoptable solutions that expand capacity. And we must simultaneously establish a robust long-term planning process to build the grid of tomorrow. That is so important. Our dilapidated grid presents an opportunity - a chance to foster a partnership between workers, utilities, grid operators, state regulators to build a transmission backbone that stretches across the country, from one end of the country to the other, delivering low-cost energy to where we need it most. And along that way, we've got to build out critical energy storage, storage infrastructure that can deliver power where we need it most. That means batteries, batteries, batteries! These critical upgrades have been deferred for far too long. Now is the time to make smart investments to boost grid capacity to meet rising energy demands before bills spike even higher.

Fourth, data centers must pay their fair share and promote healthy communities while driving America forward. Democrats will push for what people want: not Trump's toothless, stupid pledge, but rather strong, enforceable consumer protections. The public needs assurance that their electricity bill will not go up because of a data center, and only Congress can provide that certainty. We must support the buildout of data centers that use clean energy, and encourage clean energy -we know that clean energy is critical to building community support for these projects.

Democrats cannot, and must not stand by while local communities like Memphis choke on the pollution from the XAI data center. You hear that Elon Musk? Data center developers have to work with communities to deliver real benefits that make our neighborhoods healthier, our infrastructure more resilient, and that protect and invest in workers, while keeping costs low. We must also create a prize-based innovation program, one that incentivizes genuine breakthroughs in data center advancement.

The program should prioritize discovery in semiconductor chip efficiencies, new construction that is responsive to variable energy demand, energy-saving quantum computing, and advancements that minimize the need for so many data centers. Prizes would only be awarded when companies achieve a true breakthrough, not just an incremental progress.

And fifth, and just as important as the others, we must provide systematic protection for consumers from rising prices. With costs going up, we cannot ignore the roots of that problem. And that means a thorough re-examination of the entire structure and incentives within our energy systems. We must change it around, turn it inside out to prioritize lower costs, while protecting reliability. It also means rewarding the first movers and good actors within our energy system. We have to make Americans' utility bills easier to understand, so you know exactly what you're paying for, and use that transparency exercise to guide what costs can and cannot be passed through to Americans on their electricity bills. We also need to empower and reward consumers who generate their own power and reduce their demand in response to the needs of the grid. And we must restore and expand the programs that boost energy efficiency, as well as the efficiency standards themselves, that save consumers money at home, in their cars, throughout their daily lives.

My friends, together, these five ideas are the first steps that a Senate Democrat majority will work to lower energy costs and promote growth.

Trump had his chance, he broke his promise, he's ruined it. Under Trump we have higher energy costs, fewer jobs, and a broken grid. And in doing so, he has given the climate movement an opportunity, an opening to expand our coalition by advancing real reforms to lower costs and protect the earth.

In conclusion, Senate Democrats are eager, and willing, and committed ready to restore clean energy, to tackle climate change, to promote healthy and commonsense growth, to reward innovation, to create good paying union jobs and raise wages for working people, and protect every single consumer. I look forward to working with you all in our majority to build on these proposals and turn them into reality.

Thank you! Let's win this fight everybody. We will win this fight. Thank you. Thank you.

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