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Economic and dam related articles

Energy Secretary Predicts that Electricity
Prices will Stop Rising 'Very Soon'

by Rachel Frazin
The Hill, December 14, 2025

"Under my leadership, the United States will commit to the ambitious goal
of slashing energy and electricity prices by half, at least,"

-- Donald Trump at a rally while seeking re-election

Western U.S. hydropower generation fell to a 22-year low last year Western U.S. hydropower generation by state, (2021-2022 and 2022-2023). Energy Secretary Chris Wright expressed optimism that electricity prices will eventually come down.

"Very soon, you'll see a stop of the rise of electricity prices. And with the continuation of [the Trump administration's] policies of energy addition, you will see declines in electricity prices later this term," Wright told host Jacqui Heinrich on "Fox News Sunday."

As of September, electricity prices were up 5.1 percent relative to 12 months prior, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). In January, electricity prices were up 1.9 percent from the previous year.

Overall inflation in September hit 3 percent, the same as in January, according to the BLS.

The increase in electricity prices peaked at 15.8 percent in August 2022 amid global energy shortages stemming from the Russian invasion of Ukraine earlier that year. Increases in electricity demand, particularly during extreme weather events, also drive up utility bills nationwide.

The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA), a semi-independent division of the Department of Energy (DOE), projects that next year, residential electricity prices will be up as much as 18 percent relative to 2022.

The price of other utilities, such as natural gas, regular gasoline and heating oil, is expected to be 1 percent higher, 23 percent lower, and 32 percent lower next year relative to 2022, respectively, the EIA notes.

Wright, though, said that DOE is "doing everything we can to stop that rise in electricity prices." The department, at the direction of President Trump, has prioritized slashing regulations on energy companies and cutting funding for green energy projects.

"I think President Trump's policies of pro-energy, energy addition versus energy subtraction of the Biden administration have been immediately effective in gasoline, in diesel, in other fuels, but the electricity sector is a big, complicated machine," the Energy secretary added.

In the final full year of the Biden administration, the U.S. produced a record 13.4 million barrels of crude oil daily, according to the EIA.


Rachel Frazin
Energy Secretary Predicts that Electricity Prices will Stop Rising 'Very Soon'
The Hill, December 14, 2025

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