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Electricity prices are on the rise nationwide despite President Donald Trump’s assurance that he could swiftly “slash” these after returning to office.
According to the most recent data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA), residential rates rose 7.3 percent between April 2025 and April 2026 from an average of 17.55 cents per Kilowatt-hour (kWh) to 18.83. And since January of last year, when Trump returned to the White House, prices have risen by over 18 percent.
This complicates Trump’s pre-election pledge to cut energy prices in half within 18 months of his inauguration—a deadline which passed on Monday. This, the president said, could be achieved thanks to an aggressive agenda focused on expedited permitting, expanded domestic oil and gas production—“drill, baby, drill”—and across-the-board deregulatory efforts.
“Under my leadership, the United States will commit to the ambitious goal of slashing energy and electricity prices by half at least,” Trump told a North Carolina crowd in August 2024. “We intend to slash prices by half within 12 months—at a maximum 18 months.”
Newsweek reached out to the Department of Energy for comment.
Where Are Electricity Prices Highest?
According to the latest inflation report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), electricity prices fell by 1 percent last month but are up 4 percent in the 12 months to June. BLS data show that average prices for Americans have climbed 8.3 percent since last January.
And EIA data reveals that some states have experienced far sharper increases in average residential electricity prices over the 12 months to April—and now sit well above the nationwide average of 18.83 cents per kWh.
The 10 highest residential electricity prices (cents per) in April were:
- Hawaii — 46.62
- California — 35.25
- Connecticut — 32.24
- Massachusetts — 29.45
- New York — 29.45
- Maine — 28.42
- Rhode Island — 28.30
- Alaska — 27.35
- New Hampshire — 27.24
- District of Columbia — 25.41
Why Are Electricity Prices Rising?
Prior to the election, Trump acknowledged the possibility that his administration may be unable to cut electricity prices in half within two years.
“If it doesn’t work out you’ll say, ‘Oh well, I voted for him, he still got them down a lot,’” Trump told rallygoers in August. “But we’re looking to do it—we’re looking to cut them in half—and we think we’ll be able to do better, and every single thing that I promised I produced.”
As EIA notes, electricity prices can be influenced by a variety of factors including fluctuations in demand, power plant and fuel availability and fuel costs more broadly—many of which have been blamed for the surge in consumer costs in recent years and months. Artificial intelligence data center demand continues to put pressure on energy supply, with grids struggling to scale fast enough, while currently elevated fuel costs push retail prices up further.
According to a recent analysis from the clean energy-focused think tank Energy Innovation, the Trump administration’s rollback of policies aimed at expanding renewable energy is also likely to push average electricity prices higher over the coming decade and beyond. The report found that, by 2035, the phasing out of solar and other renewables programs could result in households paying an additional $460 per year on average for their energy.
And in the short-term, EIA predicted in May that residential electricity prices would rise by around five percent in 2026, and by a smaller amount in 2027, with the largest increases expected to occur “in regions along the East Coast.”
Contact Newsweek editors on this story: John Fitzpatrick and Sam Wilson.
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