{"id":991,"date":"2026-07-20T18:13:22","date_gmt":"2026-07-20T18:13:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pioneerrelocationnews.com\/?p=991"},"modified":"2026-07-20T18:13:22","modified_gmt":"2026-07-20T18:13:22","slug":"trumps-18-month-deadline-to-cut-electricity-prices-in-half-has-arrived-rates-are-up-18","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pioneerrelocationnews.com\/?p=991","title":{"rendered":"Trump’s 18-Month Deadline To Cut Electricity Prices in Half Has Arrived. Rates Are Up 18%."},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Donald Trump <\/span>pledged<\/span> on the campaign trail that he would slash electricity prices in half within 18 months of returning to the White House. That self-imposed deadline is today, and\u2014as with many of the <\/span>president’s promises<\/span>\u2014he appears to have fallen short of his goal.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Read more Privacy-Minded Fashion Aims To Baffle Facial Recognition<\/a><\/p>\n

From Trump’s inauguration in January 2025 to April 2026, the most recent month for which government data are available, residential electricity rates have risen by an eye-watering<\/span> 18 percent<\/span>. From April 2025 to April 2026, rates <\/span>jumped<\/span> by 7.3 percent, or about twice the rate of inflation, according to the Energy Information Administration.<\/span><\/p>\n

Unfortunately, for many consumers, there is not much relief in sight.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Last week, PJM Interconnection, the nation’s largest grid operator, announced the results of its annual capacity auction, which determined the cost to procure power in the region for the 2028\u20132029 delivery year. The cost of the latest auction <\/span>hit $16.4 billion<\/span>, tying the previous auction’s record-high price and all but locking customers into historically high rates.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Nationally, utilities in the second quarter of 2026 “asked state regulators to approve $9.2 billion in rate hikes, up 26% from the $7.3 billion in rate increase proposals filed in the same period last year,” <\/span>reports<\/span> Utility Dive<\/span><\/i>.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

While it may be easy to place most of the blame on Trump, given the brashness of his promise, the president inherited a slow-moving train crash of unprecedented load growth from the data center boom, which coincided with the <\/span>closure of coal and natural gas power plants<\/span>. Together, this has led to rate hikes and <\/span>warnings about grid reliability<\/span>.<\/span><\/p>\n

“It was an impossible promise to deliver on because there really isn’t that much federal government involvement in retail rates,” says Travis Fisher, director of energy and environmental policy studies at the Cato Institute<\/span>. “It was always going to be a steep uphill climb.”<\/span><\/p>\n

Indeed, while the federal government\u2014primarily through the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission\u2014sets the rules governing interstate transmission lines and wholesale markets, what consumers pay each month for electricity is determined by a myriad of other factors, including fuel prices and the cost of building local distribution infrastructure, such as poles and wires. And though the price of wholesale electricity depends on where you live, states retain significant authority over many of the costs that make it to utility bills.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Trump does bear at least some of the responsibility, though.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

His trade war, for instance, has made critical components more expensive. Like many other goods, most transformers in the United States are imported, primarily from Mexico and China. (At one point in the past 18 months, goods from the latter <\/span>faced a 147 percent import tax<\/span>.<\/span>) Electrical steel, meanwhile, comes in from South Korea, India, and Japan, all of which were subject to “reciprocal” tariffs until the Supreme Court struck them down <\/span>earlier this year<\/span>.<\/span><\/p>\n

When these duties were still in place, the investment firm Morningstar <\/span>warned<\/span> that they “directly threaten the ambitious agenda to upgrade and expand the U.S. power grid.” With them struck down, consumers are still paying for these dut<\/span>ies, as well as the 15 percent tariff rate the administration maintains on “some electrical grid equipment,” <\/span>according<\/span> to<\/span> Utility Dive.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

Read more Texas Tech\u2019s Vague Restrictions Show You Don\u2019t Have To Ban Speech To Silence It<\/a><\/p>\n

As the administration has increased input costs, it has also made it harder for certain energy sources to connect to the grid. Beginning on Day 1, Trump blocked leasing for offshore wind in federal waters, which a federal judge <\/span>later struck down<\/span>. In March, the administration unveiled a new strategy to stop offshore wind: paying developers to abandon these projects. That month, the federal government <\/span>agreed<\/span> to give<\/span> TotalEnergies nearly $1 billion\u2014a reimbursement for what it paid for its leases\u2014to terminate planned offshore wind plants in New York and North Carolina and instead invest that money in fossil-fuel projects. The federal government has since reached similar deals to terminate four other offshore wind projects, <\/span>reports<\/span> The New York Times<\/span><\/i>.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Fisher, who is “not a fan of offshore wind” because “it pretty much only gets built with subsidies and mandates,” is also not a fan of these agreements. He says these plants could have added “substantial downward pressure” and reduced PJM’s auction price. Notably, even when the administration has done the opposite and <\/span>forced<\/span><\/i> power plants to stay open<\/span><\/i>, consumers <\/span>have been left to foot the bill<\/span>.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Meanwhile, data centers’ electricity use added $6 billion to PJM’s auction.<\/span><\/p>\n

With more Americans becoming increasingly anti\u2013data center, states have implemented stringent regulations on these facilities. Last week, New York Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul <\/span>issued the nation’s first moratorium<\/span> on data centers. New York’s ban follows Maine’s efforts to implement a similar measure that passed the Legislature but was vetoed by Democratic Gov. Janet Mills in April.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

There are better solutions than a moratorium. In March, Trump <\/span>unveiled<\/span> a Ratepayer Protection Pledge that would require signatories to front the cost of grid upgrades, water infrastructure, and power generation for data centers. The pledge has not really made an impact, but that could <\/span>change as <\/span>more governors and utilities get on board<\/span>.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Some experts, including Fisher, advocate a Consumer Regulated Electricity (CRE) model that allows large-load customers (such as data centers) to connect directly to unregulated power plants independent of the grid. Fisher says this approach is more “nimble and innovative.” He also calls it a “hedge against the political risk” associated with data centers.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

New Hampshire <\/span>adopted<\/span> CRE-adjacent rules last year. And in January, Sen. Tom Cotton (R\u2013Ark.) <\/span>introduced<\/span> a bill that would make it easier for data centers to plug directly into a power plant.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Solutions like that could provide a fix to the affordability crisis. But even they are unlikely to provide the kind of relief that Trump promised and failed to deliver.<\/span><\/p>\n

Read more Working Class Hero<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Donald Trump pledged on the campaign trail that he would slash electricity prices in half within 18 months of returning to the White House.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":990,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-991","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-interesting"],"yoast_head":"\nTrump's 18-Month Deadline To Cut Electricity Prices in Half Has Arrived. Rates Are Up 18%. - Pioneer Relocation News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/pioneerrelocationnews.com\/?p=991\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Trump's 18-Month Deadline To Cut Electricity Prices in Half Has Arrived. Rates Are Up 18%. - Pioneer Relocation News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Donald Trump pledged on the campaign trail that he would slash electricity prices in half within 18 months of returning to the White House.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/pioneerrelocationnews.com\/?p=991\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Pioneer Relocation News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-07-20T18:13:22+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/pioneerrelocationnews.com\\\/?p=991#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/pioneerrelocationnews.com\\\/?p=991\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/pioneerrelocationnews.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/e60d53b4e81d520eba9c5a81b6b7778a\"},\"headline\":\"Trump’s 18-Month Deadline To Cut Electricity Prices in Half Has Arrived. Rates Are Up 18%.\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-07-20T18:13:22+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/pioneerrelocationnews.com\\\/?p=991\"},\"wordCount\":995,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/pioneerrelocationnews.com\\\/?p=991#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/pioneerrelocationnews.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/033d9508c1b3fa3b7f89c990dd91b14a.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Interesting\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/pioneerrelocationnews.com\\\/?p=991#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/pioneerrelocationnews.com\\\/?p=991\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/pioneerrelocationnews.com\\\/?p=991\",\"name\":\"Trump's 18-Month Deadline To Cut Electricity Prices in Half Has Arrived. Rates Are Up 18%. - Pioneer Relocation News\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/pioneerrelocationnews.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/pioneerrelocationnews.com\\\/?p=991#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/pioneerrelocationnews.com\\\/?p=991#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/pioneerrelocationnews.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/033d9508c1b3fa3b7f89c990dd91b14a.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-07-20T18:13:22+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/pioneerrelocationnews.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/e60d53b4e81d520eba9c5a81b6b7778a\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/pioneerrelocationnews.com\\\/?p=991#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/pioneerrelocationnews.com\\\/?p=991\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/pioneerrelocationnews.com\\\/?p=991#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/pioneerrelocationnews.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/033d9508c1b3fa3b7f89c990dd91b14a.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/pioneerrelocationnews.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/033d9508c1b3fa3b7f89c990dd91b14a.jpg\",\"width\":1920,\"height\":1080},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/pioneerrelocationnews.com\\\/?p=991#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/pioneerrelocationnews.com\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Trump’s 18-Month Deadline To Cut Electricity Prices in Half Has Arrived. Rates Are Up 18%.\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/pioneerrelocationnews.com\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/pioneerrelocationnews.com\\\/\",\"name\":\"Pioneer Relocation News\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/pioneerrelocationnews.com\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/pioneerrelocationnews.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/e60d53b4e81d520eba9c5a81b6b7778a\",\"name\":\"admin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"admin\"},\"sameAs\":[\"http:\\\/\\\/pioneerrelocationnews.com\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/pioneerrelocationnews.com\\\/?author=1\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Trump's 18-Month Deadline To Cut Electricity Prices in Half Has Arrived. Rates Are Up 18%. - Pioneer Relocation News","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/pioneerrelocationnews.com\/?p=991","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Trump's 18-Month Deadline To Cut Electricity Prices in Half Has Arrived. Rates Are Up 18%. - Pioneer Relocation News","og_description":"Donald Trump pledged on the campaign trail that he would slash electricity prices in half within 18 months of returning to the White House.","og_url":"https:\/\/pioneerrelocationnews.com\/?p=991","og_site_name":"Pioneer Relocation News","article_published_time":"2026-07-20T18:13:22+00:00","author":"admin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"admin","Est. reading time":"5 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/pioneerrelocationnews.com\/?p=991#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/pioneerrelocationnews.com\/?p=991"},"author":{"name":"admin","@id":"https:\/\/pioneerrelocationnews.com\/#\/schema\/person\/e60d53b4e81d520eba9c5a81b6b7778a"},"headline":"Trump’s 18-Month Deadline To Cut Electricity Prices in Half Has Arrived. Rates Are Up 18%.","datePublished":"2026-07-20T18:13:22+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/pioneerrelocationnews.com\/?p=991"},"wordCount":995,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/pioneerrelocationnews.com\/?p=991#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/pioneerrelocationnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/033d9508c1b3fa3b7f89c990dd91b14a.jpg","articleSection":["Interesting"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/pioneerrelocationnews.com\/?p=991#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/pioneerrelocationnews.com\/?p=991","url":"https:\/\/pioneerrelocationnews.com\/?p=991","name":"Trump's 18-Month Deadline To Cut Electricity Prices in Half Has Arrived. Rates Are Up 18%. - Pioneer Relocation News","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/pioneerrelocationnews.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/pioneerrelocationnews.com\/?p=991#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/pioneerrelocationnews.com\/?p=991#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/pioneerrelocationnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/033d9508c1b3fa3b7f89c990dd91b14a.jpg","datePublished":"2026-07-20T18:13:22+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/pioneerrelocationnews.com\/#\/schema\/person\/e60d53b4e81d520eba9c5a81b6b7778a"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/pioneerrelocationnews.com\/?p=991#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/pioneerrelocationnews.com\/?p=991"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/pioneerrelocationnews.com\/?p=991#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/pioneerrelocationnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/033d9508c1b3fa3b7f89c990dd91b14a.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/pioneerrelocationnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/033d9508c1b3fa3b7f89c990dd91b14a.jpg","width":1920,"height":1080},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/pioneerrelocationnews.com\/?p=991#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/pioneerrelocationnews.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Trump’s 18-Month Deadline To Cut Electricity Prices in Half Has Arrived. Rates Are Up 18%."}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/pioneerrelocationnews.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/pioneerrelocationnews.com\/","name":"Pioneer Relocation News","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/pioneerrelocationnews.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/pioneerrelocationnews.com\/#\/schema\/person\/e60d53b4e81d520eba9c5a81b6b7778a","name":"admin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"admin"},"sameAs":["http:\/\/pioneerrelocationnews.com"],"url":"https:\/\/pioneerrelocationnews.com\/?author=1"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pioneerrelocationnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/991","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pioneerrelocationnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pioneerrelocationnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pioneerrelocationnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pioneerrelocationnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=991"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/pioneerrelocationnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/991\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pioneerrelocationnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/990"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pioneerrelocationnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=991"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pioneerrelocationnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=991"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pioneerrelocationnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=991"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}