SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FREE NEWSLETTER
Daily news & progressive opinion—funded by the people, not the corporations—delivered straight to your inbox.
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
To donate by check, phone, or other method, see our More Ways to Give page.
Daily news & progressive opinion—funded by the people, not the corporations—delivered straight to your inbox.
A new analysis from clean energy think tank Energy Innovation finds that the Trump administration's rollback of clean energy policy will add more than half a trillion dollars to American households' collective energy costs by 2040, even as it publicly promises lower bills. 350.org says the findings confirm what millions of Americans are already living through this summer: a sudden AI-driven electricity crunch colliding with policy choices that are making the problem worse, not better.
According to the report, the cumulative impact of the administration's actions, including the repeal of clean energy tax credits, new barriers to permitting wind and solar, and a tilt toward more expensive coal-fired power, will raise the average household's energy costs by $460 by 2035, rising to $490 a year by 2040. That comes on top of electricity rates that have already spiked 7.4% nationwide since last fall, with more than a dozen states seeing double-digit increases, driven in part by the explosive growth in data center electricity demand.
The findings land just as households across the eastern US are living the consequences directly. A "heat dome" and severe storms over the Fourth of July weekend left almost a million households without power across more than a dozen states, and sent wholesale electricity prices up more than 240% in New England and doubled in New York City. Detroit was among the hardest hit: roughly 350,000 people lost power, some for four to five days, with outages still ongoing for some. Detroit's utility, DTE, ranked among the worst-rated in the country, has pushed through repeated rate hikes even as reliability has failed to improve, including a $242.2 million increase approved in February during a deadly cold snap, and a further request in April for up to $474 million, an 11% increase.
Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel has intervened in DTE and Consumers Energy's current rate cases over the pattern, saying DTE continues to treat Michigan families like an open checkbook to satisfy its shareholders, whether through massive rate hike requests or secret data center contracts.
Candice Fortin, US Campaigns Manager at 350.org, said:
"This report puts numbers on something households are already feeling in their bills and their blackouts. We were told cutting clean energy would lower costs. Instead, we're seeing the opposite: rates spiking, grids failing under record heat, and households paying more while data centers' electricity use explodes. You can't fix an affordability crisis by blocking the cheapest, fastest power we have to build. The fossil fuel industry and this administration's policies are adding fuel to the fire, and ordinary ratepayers are the ones getting burned."
The Trump administration disputes the report's findings, with the White House and Department of Energy characterising Energy Innovation's analysis as partisan and arguing that rolling back clean energy regulation will ultimately lower prices by letting market forces determine new generation. Energy Innovation and other independent analysts maintain there is a direct line between the administration's policies and rising bills, pointing to the growing gap between the promise of cheaper energy and the reality households are experiencing this summer.
350 is building a future that's just, prosperous, equitable and safe from the effects of the climate crisis. We're an international movement of ordinary people working to end the age of fossil fuels and build a world of community-led renewable energy for all.
Oil price jumps should "start being passed along tomorrow and in the days ahead" in the form of higher gasoline prices, said one industry analyst.
President Donald Trump's illegal war with Iran is sending oil prices surging—again.
While attending the 36th NATO Summit of Heads of State and Government in Türikye on Wednesday, Trump said that the ceasefire agreement he struck last month with Iran is "over," while adding, "I don’t want to deal with them," in reference to the Iranians.
Shortly after the president's remarks, Brent and West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil prices each jumped by more than 4% during Wednesday trading, marking the end of a steady decline in prices that occurred in the weeks since the ceasefire deal was first announced.
Later in the day, Trump went on a lengthy rant about Democrats criticizing his failed campaign promise to bring down the price of groceries starting on his very first day in office, and he falsely claimed that the price of oil "is coming down very big."
At this point, a reporter interjected and said that oil prices on Wednesday were surging upward.
"If we hit Iran, oil goes up a little bit," Trump replied. "That's all right."
Trump on Inflation: And now inflation is way down. Everything is great. The prices are coming down. They made up a phony word: affordability. Oil is coming down very big.
Reporter: Brent crude is up today.
Trump: Every time we hit Iran, oil goes up a little bit. That's all… pic.twitter.com/ZvG0a5RYZh
— Acyn (@Acyn) July 8, 2026
Although the price of gasoline has been following the price of oil downward, any increase in petroleum prices will almost certainly send it back upward.
In a social media post, petroleum industry analyst Patrick De Haan said the renewed fighting between the US and Iran, combined with Russia banning exports of diesel fuel, would likely cause more pain at the gas pump in the near future.
"With news of Russia suspending diesel exports, markets have accelerated their climb," De Haan explained. "In addition, the current national average for diesel of $4.75 per gallon could head back to $5 per gallon in the next week or two, while the national average gas price heads to $4 per gallon."
De Haan added that spot gasoline prices on Wednesday were up by between $0.14 and $0.20, projecting that "today's jumps could start being passed along tomorrow and in the days ahead."
"We firmly believe that the supporters and volunteers who built this movement deserve to have a real role in any nomination process," said Graham Platner's campaign manager.
Graham Platner's campaign manager on Wednesday accused the Maine Democratic Party of coordinating with national Democrats "behind closed doors" and cutting the embattled US Senate nominee's supporters out of the process to determine his potential replacement in the wake of a sexual assault allegation—and amid expectations that he will soon drop out of the race.
In a text message sent to Platner supporters, campaign chief Ben Chin wrote that the Maine Democratic Party "allowed the DC-based Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee to send staffers to plan a potential nominating process behind closed doors. Both the state and national parties cut our team, our volunteers, and our vast networks of supporters out of the conversation completely."
"We firmly believe that the supporters and volunteers who built this movement deserve to have a real role in any nomination process," Chin's message continued. "If the Maine Democratic Party hopes to harness our movement, and avoid disillusioning the hundreds of thousands of supporters who came into the fray because of our movement’s policies, it must consult the feedback and proposals of the people who built and sustained this."
The text included a link to a two-question survey asking Platner volunteers, "What message do you have for the Democratic Party?" and, "What message do you have for Graham?"
The defiant message came as Platner's campaign was reportedly planning the nominee's exit from the US Senate race to pave the way for a different Democratic candidate to take on five-term Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) in November. Platner has denied the sexual assault allegation that prompted mass calls for him to exit the race, including from his most prominent supporters such as Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.).
Chin's text message was circulated a day after Devon Murphy-Anderson, the Maine Democratic Party's executive director, said in a video posted to social media that the party has been "working around the clock" to develop a plan to replace Platner that is "open, inclusive, transparent, and fair." The party has not yet publicly specified what that plan could entail, saying Platner must formally withdraw from the race first.
Murphy-Anderson accused Platner's team of "repeatedly reach[ing] out" to the Maine Democratic Party "in an attempt to put their thumb on the scale of what this process looks like."
"We have repeatedly reiterated to Graham Platner's team that they have no role in determining our next Democratic nominee for the US Senate," Murphy-Anderson added.
In response to Murphy-Anderson's statement, the Platner campaign denied that it has attempted to exert influence over the replacement process, saying it simply "reached out to the party to try and understand what this process would look like."
"Over 150,000 Mainers voted for this movement, and over 15,000 Mainers volunteered their time and energy to it," an unnamed Platner campaign official told NBC News late Tuesday. "While Graham wouldn't want to be a part of the process, he would want to make sure the voters and volunteers make this decision—not the political establishment."
On Wednesday, the Maine Democratic Party issued a new statement decrying what it called the Platner team's "false accusations against us" while also expressing gratitude for "his supporters and all of their efforts to defeat Susan Collins."
"They are a vital part of our party and deserve to participate in an open process to select Platner’s replacement," said Maine Democrats.
CNN reported that Platner is "expected to announce his decision" on his candidacy "through a recorded video, which could come later Wednesday."
Platner must drop out of the race by July 13 if he's to be replaced on the November ballot. If he exits the race, an alternative must be selected by July 27.
Politico reported that Platner "quietly fielded a poll Tuesday gauging the strength of people who could replace him on the ballot."
"The flash poll, obtained by Politico, was conducted by Public Policy Polling and commissioned by Platner’s campaign," the outlet reported. "It tested head-to-head match-ups between Republican Sen. Susan Collins and Platner, along with five possible Democratic replacements for Platner, including former Maine state Senate President Troy Jackson and Secretary of State Shenna Bellows."
"Of the Democrats tested, Jackson performed the best, leading Collins 49% to 44%, with 7% of voters undecided," Politico reported. The outlet also noted that the poll, conducted the day after the sexual assault allegation against Platner was first reported by Politico, showed Platner trailing Collins 47% to 42%.
Jackson has filed paperwork to explore a Senate bid in preparation for Platner's expected exit, and Bellows—who lost badly to Collins in 2014—has said she would "seriously consider entering this race." Nirav Shah, former director of the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention, is also weighing a Senate bid.
"Every day the consequences of GOP healthcare cuts get worse," said one campaigner.
Health insurance companies that offer plans on the Affordable Care Act marketplace are proposing double-digit premium increases for 2027, signaling the second consecutive year of out-of-pocket cost hikes following President Donald Trump and congressional Republicans' refusal to extend enhanced subsidies that lapsed last December.
The health policy research group KFF and the Peterson Center on Healthcare released an analysis on Wednesday showing that ACA marketplace insurers "are proposing a median premium increase of about 14% in 2027." While that would represent a decrease compared to the median finalized premium increase of 20% for 2026, it marks "the second-highest requested rate change since 2018, as premium growth had been relatively flat in this market for several years," the analysis notes.
"If these early indications of median premium increases for 2027 hold, typical premiums for insurers participating in the ACA marketplaces will have jumped by more than one-third over a two-year period," KFF and the Peterson Center found, pointing to the significance of Trump and the GOP's deciseion to oppose an extension of enhanced ACA premiums that were established in 2021 during the Biden administration.
KFF and the Peterson Center explain:
As anticipated, many healthier enrollees left the ACA Marketplaces in 2026 as their subsidies decreased—leading to an average increase in premium payments after subsidies of 58% this year—leaving behind an enrollee base that is on average somewhat sicker and more expensive to cover. For 2026, this dynamic was estimated to drive rates an average of four percentage points higher than they otherwise would have been, and insurers are now building 2027 rates on top of that adjusted, less-healthy risk pool—compounding the effect into next year’s premiums as well.
Leslie Dach, chair of the advocacy group Protect Our Care, said in a statement Wednesday that the analysis underscores "just the latest hit on hard-working families struggling to get by after Republicans ripped away the tax credits that helped millions of Americans afford coverage."
"Every day the consequences of GOP healthcare cuts get worse," said Dach. "This was a deliberate choice by Republicans who took away affordable coverage from millions of people to help fund tax breaks for billionaires and big corporations. The damage is already being felt at kitchen tables across America, and these new premium hikes show the worst is still ahead. And Republicans will pay the political price. Healthcare is already the driving issue leading up to the elections, and as the consequences mount, it will only mobilize voters further.”
Since the start of President Donald Trump's second White House term, ACA enrollment has declined by more than 5 million people as a growing number of Americans are priced out of coverage by surging premiums.
For 2027, at least 20 insurers across states that have submitted rate filings so far have proposed premium increases exceeding 20%, according to the KFF-Peterson Center analysis.
Kendall Witmer, the Democratic National Committee's rapid response director, said in a statement Wednesday that "healthcare is unaffordable for millions of Americans because Donald Trump and Republicans sold them out to give billionaires even bigger tax cuts."
"Working families are already grappling with sky-high prices for groceries and gas, and growing medical bills are putting them over the edge," said Witmer. "Healthcare for Americans has never been more expensive—and Trump and Republicans are squarely to blame."
Leor Tal, campaign director for the advocacy group Unrig Our Ecnomy, echoed those arguments and called for GOP lawmakers, who still control the House and the Senate, to act.
“Millions have already lost access to health insurance, and these planned premium hikes will only escalate this crisis," said Tal.
"We need Republicans in Congress to restore the health care tax credits they took away from millions. Otherwise, when their premiums rise again, Americans will know who is at fault.”