Trump blames renewable energy for rising electricity prices. Experts
point elsewhere
[August 22, 2025]
By MATTHEW DALY
WASHINGTON (AP) — With electricity prices rising at more than twice the
rate of inflation, President Donald Trump has lashed out at renewable
energy sources such as wind and solar power, blaming them for
skyrocketing energy costs.
Trump called wind and solar power “THE SCAM OF THE CENTURY!” in a social
media post and vowed not to approve wind or “farmer destroying Solar”
projects. “The days of stupidity are over in the USA!!!” he wrote on his
Truth Social site.
Energy analysts say renewable sources have little to do with recent
price hikes, which are based on increased demand, aging infrastructure
and increasingly extreme weather events such as wildfires that are
exacerbated by climate change.
The rapid growth of cloud computing and artificial intelligence has
fueled demand for energy-hungry data centers that need power to run
servers, storage systems, networking equipment and cooling systems.
Increased use of electric vehicles also has boosted demand, even as the
Trump administration and congressional Republicans move to restrict tax
credits and other incentives for EV purchases approved under the Biden
administration.
Natural gas prices, meanwhile, are rising sharply amid increased exports
to Europe and other international customers. More than 40% of U.S.
electricity is generated by natural gas.
Trump promised during the 2024 campaign to lower Americans’ electric
bills by 50%. Democrats have been quick to blame him for the price
hikes, citing actions to hamstring clean energy in the sprawling
tax-and-spending cut bill approved last month, as well as regulations
since then to further restrict wind and solar power.
Advocates say renewables provide the extra energy needed
“Now more than ever, we need more energy, not less, to meet our
increased energy demand and power our grid. Instead of increasing our
energy supply Donald Trump is taking a sledgehammer to the clean energy
sector, killing jobs and projects,” said New Mexico Sen. Martin
Heinrich, the top Democrat on the Senate Energy and Natural Resources
Committee.
The GOP bill will cost thousands of jobs and impose higher energy costs
nationwide, Heinrich and other critics said.
A report from Energy Innovation, a non-partisan think tank, found the
GOP tax law will increase the average family’s energy bill by $130
annually by 2030. “By quickly phasing out technology-neutral clean
energy tax credits and adding complex material sourcing requirements,”
the tax law will “significantly hamper the development of domestic
electricity generation capacity,” the report said.
Renewable advocates were more blunt.
“The real scam is blaming solar for fossil fuel price spikes,” the Solar
Energy Industries Association said in response to Trump's post.
“Farmers, families, and businesses choose solar to save money, preserve
land, and escape high costs of the old, dirty fuels being forced on them
by this administration,” the group added.
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As technology improves, wind and solar offer some of the cheapest
and fastest ways to provide electric power. More than 90% of new
energy capacity that came online in the U.S. in 2024 was clean
energy, said Jason Grumet, CEO of the American Clean Power
Association, another industry group.
States with the highest share of clean energy production have seen
prices decline in the past year, according to data from the U.S.
Energy Information Administration, while prices have gone up in
states with the least renewable energy use.
“By slowing clean energy deployment, the Trump administration is
directly fueling cost increases,” Grumet said
“Blocking cheap, clean energy while doubling down on outdated fossil
fuels makes no economic or environmental sense,” added Ted Kelly,
director of U.S. clean energy for the Environmental Defense Fund, a
nonprofit advocacy group.
Partisanship anchors debate over rising energy prices
Energy Secretary Chris Wright blamed rising prices on “momentum”
from Biden-era policies that backed renewable power over fossil fuel
sources such as oil, coal and natural gas.
“That momentum is pushing prices up right now. And who’s going to
get blamed for it? We’re going to get blamed because we’re in
office,” Wright told POLITICO during a visit to Iowa last week.
About 60 percent of the state's electricity comes from wind.
Not all the pushback comes from Democrats.
Iowa Sen. Chuck Grassley, a Republican who backs wind power, has
placed a hold on three Treasury nominees to ensure wind and solar
have “an appropriate glidepath for the orderly phase-out of the tax
credits” approved in the 2022 climate law under former President Joe
Biden.
Grassley said he was encouraged by new Treasury guidance that limits
tax credits for wind and solar projects but does not eliminate them.
The guidance “seems to offer a viable path forward for the wind and
solar industries to continue to meet increased energy demand,”
Grassley said in a statement.
John Quigley, senior fellow at the Kleinman Center for Energy Policy
at the University of Pennsylvania, said the Republican tax law will
increase U.S. power bills by slowing construction of solar, wind,
and battery projects and could eliminate as many as 45,000 jobs by
2030.
Trump administration polices that emphasize fossil fuels are “an
extremely backward force in this conversation,” Quigley said.
“Besides ceding the clean energy future to other nations, we are
paying for fossil foolishness with more than money — with our health
and with our safety. And our children will pay an even higher
price.”
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