Six Months Out from the Midterms, Skyrocketing Energy Costs Rise as a Political Liability for Republicans
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Concerns about energy costs have jumped by 10 percentage points since last year, the highest level since 2008, and tie housing as the second biggest affordability concern
Gas prices have skyrocketed to multi-year highs thanks to Trump’s war of choice in Iran
Washington, DC – With just six months until the midterm elections, energy costs continue to take center stage as a defining political issue for campaigns up and down the ballot. In 2025, Democratic candidates won by holding Republicans accountable for soaring costs, including their reckless attacks on affordable clean energy. Now, on top of utility bills that have spiked by as much as 13%, Trump’s war in Iran has sent gas prices through the roof, and once again, Republicans helped him do it.
While Americans struggle to make ends meet, ultra-wealthy fossil fuel companies, including Trump’s Big Oil donors, continue to rake in massive profits. Republicans voted to clear the way for their Big Oil supporters by taking clean energy competition that would have lowered utility bills and protected Americans from global energy shocks off the grid. And rather than acknowledge their role in supporting a war that has driven energy costs through the roof, Republicans continue to lie to their constituents and deny the blatant fact that gas prices are soaring.
Climate Power Communications Director Alex Glass issued the following statement: “Higher bills, higher gas prices, bigger profits for Big Oil—that’s the Republican record. And this November, voters will deliver the receipt. Instead of learning their lesson in 2025 that higher energy bills cost them at the ballot box, Republicans doubled down, backed a war that sent gas prices soaring, and handed Big Oil another payday. Now they’re out of excuses and running out of time too.”
Trump and Republicans have made life more expensive for everyday Americans, even while their ultra-wealthy donors rake in billions:
- Donald Trump and Republicans have gutted clean energy projects across the country as data centers and AI send demand soaring, spiking household electricity costs by as much as 13%.
- Trump’s’ budget bill–which was passed by congressional Republicans–canceled or stalled 365 clean energy projects, prevented $61.4 billion in investment, and put 179,829 jobs on the chopping block.
- Clean energy is the least expensive and quickest power source to bring online and costs 30 to 60 percent less than new gas plants to produce the same amount of electricity.
- Attacks on clean energy have already taken nearly 25 GW of planned generation off the grid. Trump’s crusade to block wind and solar power could nearly double the rate hikes and broader inflation from data center buildout.
- Thanks to Trump’s war of choice in Iran, the average price of gas has spiked by nearly 50%, reaching $4.46 a gallon on May 4. Americans have spent $32.1 billion more at the pump since the start of the war.