ROUND UP: More Rate Hikes as Trump Spends Taxpayer Dollars to Take Energy Options Off the Grid
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Trump has canceled or stalled enough clean energy to power more than 14 million homes as demand soars
Worries over energy costs have jumped by 10 percentage points since last year as Trump’s war of choice in Iran kickstarts a global energy crisis
Washington, DC – While Americans in states across the country face rate hikes, Donald Trump has spent almost $2 billion in taxpayer dollars to take clean energy options off the grid as demand soars. Just last week, Trump paid two offshore wind companies $885 million in exchange for their commitment to invest in polluting fossil fuels, which are more expensive for everyday Americans and only serve to make Trump’s Big Oil donors even richer. Earlier this year, Trump paid another offshore company a billion taxpayer dollars to stop construction on an offshore wind farm that was projected to power millions of homes.
Americans are paying the price for Trump’s personal grudge against clean energy with utility bills that have increased by as much as 13% under his watch. On top of that, his war of choice in Iran has sent gas and diesel prices to multi-year highs, making everything from groceries to plane tickets more expensive. While everyday Americans pinch pennies, Trump’s Big Oil donors are raking in massive profits.
In the last week, customers in four states faced rate hikes and two projects were canceled in two states:
Michigan
- The Traverse City Light & Power board approved a 4.7% rate hike, which was expected to increase the average monthly residential customer’s power cost by about $6.
Ohio
- FirstEnergy announced plans to file a three-year rate plan in Ohio that would increase bills for customers of the two electric utilities it owns in the state. Ohio Edison customers were expected to pay a 2.2% higher monthly rate, about $4.26 per month. The Illuminating Co. customers were expected to pay a 2.6% higher monthly rate, about $5.15 per month.
Texas
- Oncor filed another request to increase its electricity rates, days after a previous rate hike was approved. The company requested a 2.5% rate increase for residential customers, increasing bills by $3.85 per month.
Delaware
- Delmarva Power’s request for a 5% gas rate hike was approved, increasingly monthly gas bills for customers by about $2 per month.
New Jersey
- Trump paid Ocean Winds to abandon its plans to build the Bluepoint Wind project off the coast of New Jersey. The project was projected to add 2.4 GW of energy to the grid, enough to power over 1 million homes, and create “thousands” of good-paying new jobs.
California
- As part of the deal with Ocean Winds, the Golden State Wind project was also canceled off the coast of California. The project was expected to generate 2 GW of clean energy, enough to power about 1.1 million homes, and invest $30 million in local workforce development and supply chain initiatives.