Energy bills have been rising, sometimes from month to month, for Americans all over the country. President Donald Trump’s administration seems intent on completely ignoring this issue — or outright lying about it.
Energy Secretary Chris Wright recently claimed that Americans would begin to see energy bills lower “very soon.” His statement comes after a new Bureau of Labor Statistics report revealed that electricity prices had gone up by 5.1% from last year. The most recent peak was a 15.8% rise seen in 2022 after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Unfortunately, there is no hard data to back Wright’s claim that energy bills will be lower. In fact, many analysts have warned that 2026 will see skyrocketing electricity prices. Only Democratic Socialists seem to have an answer to this growing problem.
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Democrats Push for Government-Owned Utility Companies
The corporations that own the power utilities around the country clearly don’t have Americans’ best interests at heart. If they did, working-class Americans wouldn’t be stunned by their energy bills rising by hundreds — and sometimes thousands — overnight. Furthermore, these privately owned power utilities don’t have the incentives to revamp and update their old infrastructure, especially if it cuts into their profits.
That puts everyone at risk. Democratic Socialists in New York, such as Assemblywoman Sarahana Shrestha in the Mid-Hudson Valley and State Senator Michelle Hinchey, have begun to call for the state to take over the corporate-owned utility company, as residents have faced skyrocketing bills.
Studies have backed Shrestha and Hinchey’s claims that a government-owned utility company is the way to go, as ratepayers and the state would end up making millions in savings.
Advocates for an electric grid under public control have also pointed to the great success story that is Massena, a small town in upstate New York. More than 40 years ago, Massena voted to publicly take over their privately owned utility company — and they’ve happily been paying lower energy bills ever since.
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Energy Remains a Huge Problem
Electricity bills are likely to continue rising in 2026, regardless of what the Trump administration claims. If nothing is done to stop this, privately owned utility companies will only continue to fleece hard-working Americans out of their well-earned money.
There are many reasons why energy bills have risen in recent years. Perhaps most controversially, areas with large data centers, particularly those tied to artificial intelligence, have led to increased power costs.
The Trump administration has gone all in on AI. Data centers may begin popping up all over the United States — and ruining both the environment and Americans’ savings in the process.
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