Democratic California Gov. Gavin Newsom doubled down on attributing rising energy costs to President Donald Trump on Saturday, though energy sector experts pointed out that ratepayers in his state pay some of the highest electricity prices in the country.
Newsom wrote Saturday on X that electricity costs have climbed 10% since January, referencing a screengrab of a Forbes article linking some of Trump’s policies to the rate increase. California has some of the highest energy costs in the U.S., driven by Newsom’s aggressive green energy policies, several energy policy experts told the Daily Caller News Foundation.
“The only politicians responsible for California’s outrageous electricity prices are California Democrats, led by Gavin Newsom. California has loaded up its grid with pointlessly expensive wind, solar and batteries, and simultaneously burdening it with silly EVs [electric vehicles] and other electrification,” Steve Milloy, Energy and Environment Legal Institute senior fellow and former Trump Environmental Protection Agency transition team member, told the DCNF. “California Democrats have also virtually chased the coal, oil and gas and nuclear industries out of California. When the California grid finally collapses, Californians will wish high prices were their only problem.”
“Electricity prices have gone up 10% since January,” Newsom wrote Saturday. “Great work, President Donald Trump!!”
Golden State residents pay the second-highest electricity costs in the nation behind Hawaii, according to one estimatefrom California’s nonpartisan Legislative Analyst’s Office (LAO). The national average for electricity cost per kilowatt-hour (kWh) was ¢12.68 in 2023, while Californians paid ¢24.87 per kWh, according to data from the Energy Information Administration (EIA).
California has set aggressive green energy targets, with Newsom aiming to slash greenhouse gas emissions by 85% and achieve carbon neutrality by 2045. Stringent emissions goals and other state pushes for green initiatives are projected to cost Californians between $17,398 and $20,182 from 2025 to 2050, according to one analysis by the Pacific Research Institute.
“Gavin Newsom blaming President Trump for rising electricity prices is laughable. Californians are drowning in high energy bills because Newsom spent years shuttering natural gas, abandoning affordable coal from neighboring states, and threatening to close nuclear; all to chase his Green New Deal fantasy,” Jason Isaac, CEO of the American Energy Institute, told the DCNF. “Wind and solar may win him points with climate activists and China, but they’ve made California’s grid more expensive and less reliable. President Trump’s Energy Dominance Agenda is finally reversing the damage.”
Newsom previously claimed in a June X post that Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA) would spike electricity bills. Though numerous legacy media outlets and several Democratic officials have also linked climbing energy prices to Trump’s policies, including the tariffs and the OBBBA, electricity costs were already on the rise and hit major highs under the Biden administration.
“Californians can expect to pay $320 more a year thanks to Trump’s backwards energy policies,” a spokesperson from Newsom’s told the DCNF, referencing a CNN article. “Trump’s energy plan = higher costs, dirtier energy, more power outages.”
Energy policy experts, grid watchdogs and operators have long cautioned that the Biden-era push for green energy compromised grid reliability and drove up electricity costs, while electricity demand accelerates largely due to rapid growth in the artificial intelligence (AI) sector.
California’s build out of green energy technology has caused it to produce more solar and wind power than it can use, requiring it to pay neighboring states to take its excess electricity and to develop massive battery storage facilities. The state’s net energy metering program has also drawn fire for driving up electricity prices, as the policy forces some Californians to pay for their neighbor’s rooftop solar.
Notably, a heavy reliance on intermittent energy technology like solar or wind can threaten grid reliability, energy policy experts have previously explained to the DCNF. The Golden State has suffered from power grid issues for years, with Newsom urging Californians to reduce electricity use during peak hours to prevent power outages amid an intense heat wave in 2022.
California officials agreed to keep three natural gas power plants humming through 2026 to strengthen the grid and skirt potential blackouts in 2024, and several power plants and refineries are closing or have closed in recent years as stringent regulations pressure them to exit the state, exacerbating California’s energy problems.
Gas prices in the state are some of the highest in the U.S., and with the impending refinery closures, one estimate projects that the state could be facing $8 per gallon gas prices as soon as 2026.
The state enforces a low-carbon fuel standard that operates through a credit trading system designed to encourage the use of lower-emissions fuels, allowing producers emitting less than the limit to earn credits, which they can sell to those exceeding the threshold. Additionally, California’s cap-and-trade program for emissions has been associated with high energy costs in the state.
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