Moderate Republicans warned that repealing clean energy tax credits would push utility bills higher — and rising electricity and heating costs now appear to confirm those predictions. The surge, driven by infrastructure costs, volatile natural gas prices and rapidly expanding AI data centers, has become a potent political issue that helped Democrats win key races. Internal GOP fights over permitting reform, offshore wind and renewable incentives underscore the party’s strategic dilemma, while Democrats propose restoring credits and expanding consumer aid through the Cheap Energy Act.
Soaring Utility Bills Expose GOP Divisions — Moderates Warned Cutting Clean‑Energy Credits Would Backfire
The sun behind power transmission lines in Columbia, South Carolina, on July 28, 2025. - Sam Wolfe/Bloomberg/Getty Images
Moderate Republicans warned for months that rolling back Biden‑era clean energy tax credits would raise household utility bills — and now those warnings are materializing. Residential electricity and heating costs have jumped nationwide, fueling voter anger and exposing fractures in the Republican Party over how to respond.
Since last September, average residential electricity rates nationwide rose by 7.4%, with more than a dozen states recording double‑digit year‑over‑year increases. That spike has become a prominent campaign issue: Democrats emphasized energy costs alongside food and health care in recent races and scored wins in New Jersey and Virginia gubernatorial contests and flipped two seats on Georgia’s public utility commission.
Wind turbines are visible in Shanksville, Pennsylvania, on September 11, 2025. - Jeff Swensen/Getty Images/File
What’s Driving Higher Bills
Energy experts and lawmakers point to several key drivers:
- Infrastructure Costs: Building and upgrading transmission lines and other grid assets is expensive and time‑consuming.
- Natural Gas Price Swings: A spike in natural gas prices has raised costs for electricity generation in many regions.
- AI Data Centers: Rapid growth of power‑hungry data centers has created sudden, localized demand spikes that the current grid struggles to meet.
“You have to get more power on the grid,” Rep. Andrew Garbarino (R‑N.Y.) told CNN.
GOP Policy Choices And Internal Tensions
At President Trump’s direction, congressional Republicans moved to eliminate generous clean energy tax credits earlier this year. Critics — including some moderate Republicans — argue the change removes some of the fastest and cheapest options for adding new generation capacity, worsening the current electricity crunch.
Poll workers help people get set up to vote at a polling site in Garfield, New Jersey, on November 4, 2025. - Seth Wenig/AP
That tension came into focus when a small group of Republicans nearly blocked a procedural vote on permitting reform legislation intended to speed approvals for energy infrastructure projects. The bill — known as the SPEED Act — would amend a landmark environmental law to fast‑track construction of oil and gas pipelines and large interstate transmission lines. Sponsors say it would help bring more capacity online; opponents say it won’t deliver immediate relief and leaves open contentious questions such as whether offshore wind should receive expedited permitting.
“If we don’t start building more, the prices are just going to keep going up,” said Rep. Bruce Westerman (R‑Ark.), sponsor of the legislation.
Some Republicans — including Reps. Garbarino and Gabe Evans (R‑Colo.) — had urged colleagues to preserve or extend clean energy credits to ensure businesses have stability to invest in new generation. Others in GOP leadership have instead emphasized that recent cost pressures are a legacy of Democratic policies. White House spokesperson Taylor Rogers argued rate increases have mainly hit Democratic‑led states, even though federal data show steep bill jumps in several GOP‑led states, including Georgia, Ohio and Indiana.
Cooling vent fans on the roof of a data center in Ashburn, Virginia on November 12, 2025. - Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/AFP/Getty Images
Political Fallout
Lawmakers who represent districts with sharp bill increases say energy affordability cost them politically. Rep. Jeff Van Drew (R‑N.J.) said the Republican gubernatorial campaign in his state failed to focus on rising utility costs and lost the election by a wide margin. Voters in New Jersey experienced one of the nation’s largest electricity rate spikes last year — second only to the District of Columbia — and local leaders say that issue propelled the winning Democratic message.
Advocates and policymakers on the left have seized the moment. Rep. Sean Casten (D‑Ill.) is a lead sponsor of the Cheap Energy Act, which would restore clean energy tax credits, add safeguards around data center development so companies pay for the electricity they consume, and expand energy assistance to households at risk of shutoffs.
“We need an affirmative view of what to do,” Casten said, urging concrete proposals that candidates can run on.
Outlook
Permitting reform could ease some long‑term bottlenecks, but major projects take years to build. Experts warn that short‑term sticker shock will persist and that more increases are visible in utility rate filings. Consumer advocates say electricity costs — dubbed “the new eggs” by consumer group founder Charles Hua — have moved rapidly from a niche policy concern to a mainstream political issue.
The debate inside the GOP — between those advocating an “all‑of‑the‑above” energy strategy that includes renewables and those pushing to prioritize fossil infrastructure and regulatory rollbacks — will shape both policy responses and electoral outcomes as midterm campaigns ramp up.
