Tonko Sends Trump Letter Outlining Steps to Lower Energy Costs

This press release from Representative Paul Tonko (D-NY) was published on 2026-02-24 and titled "Tonko Sends Trump Letter Outlining Steps to Lower Energy Costs". It focuses on the economy and touches on taxes, climate policy.

Tonko Sends Trump Letter Outlining Steps to Lower Energy Costs

WASHINGTON, DC — Congressman Paul D. Tonko (NY-20) led a letter with more than 50 members of the House to Donald Trump ahead of his State of the Union address, calling for the president to take tangible and immediate actions that lower energy bills and provide relief to Americans while improving the long-term outlook on energy prices. “Despite your campaign promise of lowering energy bills by 50% in your first year in office, household electric bills have gone up 13% nationally and residential natural gas prices are up nearly 60% in the past year,” the letter reads. “This trend is expected to worsen in the years ahead.” The letter continues, “The American people are counting on us to address the rising cost of energy. Families should not have to choose between heating their homes and paying for other necessities. Businesses should not face uncompetitive energy costs that threaten jobs and economic growth. While no single action will solve the energy affordability crisis on its own, it is clear that your administration has embraced numerous policies that have worsened the situation.” The letter was signed by 53 House Democratic Members, including Reps. Barragán, Beyer, Bonamici, Boyle, Brownley, Carbajal, Casten, Castor, Chu, Clarke, Cleaver, Cohen, Davis, Dean, DeGette, DeSaulnier, Dexter, Doggett, Fletcher, Friedman, Garamendi, Goldman (NY), Huffman, Jacobs, Keating, Kennedy (NY), Lee (NV), Levin, Lieu, Lynch, Magaziner, Matsui, McBride, McClain Delaney, McCollum, McGarvey, Min, Morrison, Mullin, Nadler, Norton, Pingree, Quigley, Salinas, Schakowsky, Sorensen, Stanton, Suozzi, Thanedar, Titus, Tlaib, Tonko, and Velázquez. The full letter can be read HERE and below. President Donald J. Trump The White House 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW Washington, D.C. 20500 Dear President Trump: We write to urge you to take immediate action to address the energy affordability crisis facing American families and businesses. Despite your campaign promise of lowering energy bills by 50% in your first year in office, household electric bills have gone up 13% nationally and residential natural gas prices are up nearly 60% in the past year. This trend is expected to worsen in the years ahead. Energy affordability challenges are not a hoax. We are hearing directly from our constituents who are feeling the financial impacts of higher utility bills. Tens of millions of U.S. households have struggled to pay energy bills or reported other energy cost concerns. Your administration has taken numerous actions that have directly contributed to these rising costs that Americans are facing. As you prepare for the State of the Union, we urge you to use your address as an opportunity to change course and take the following immediate actions to lower energy costs and provide utility bill relief to Americans: End the blockade of clean energy projects at the Department of the Interior. Your administration has actively sought to block renewable energy projects, issuing stop-work orders for offshore wind and implementing burdensome, unclear, and inconsistent permitting practices for renewable energy projects across the board. Blocking or stalling these projects will lead to higher electricity costs for American families and is already threatening grid reliability. In December, the independent, non-partisan grid operator ISO-New England stated, “canceling or delaying [offshore wind] projects will increase costs and risks to reliability in our region. Beyond increasing risk to reliability, delays of new generating resources also will adversely affect New England’s economy and industrial growth.” The true costs of these decisions have largely not yet been reflected in utility bills, but households will see the consequences in the years ahead. Cancelling the five offshore wind projects already under construction could raise electricity costs for Americans an estimated $45 billion over the next decade. Call for re-enactment of energy cost savings tax credits. Last year, you signed into law a repeal of critical energy tax credits, which is expected to increase residential energy bills by over $100 annually in the near-term and as much as $400 annually by 2035. These credits reduce energy projects’ costs, and therefore their impacts on electricity customers. Longstanding consumer-facing credits helped directly reduce energy costs for consumers, allowing households to immediately cut their utility bills. There is bipartisan support for reinstating these credits, which drive investments in solar energy, wind energy, and energy efficiency upgrades to deploy new, low-cost energy resources and reduce energy consumption. Due to the loss of these incentives and uncertainty caused by your administration, nearly $35 billion in energy investments, along with 38,000 U.S. jobs, were cancelled last year. End or provide exemptions from tariffs on equipment, materials, and components needed for energy projects. Energy projects rely on complex, international supply chai