Wright's claims on electricity prices don't hold up

Wright's core claim

Energy Secretary Chris Wright said on Fox News on October first that electricity prices are almost fifty percent higher in states run by Democrats, blaming climate policies for the difference.

“Electricity prices are almost 50% higher in states run by Democrats.”

Renewable portfolio standards blamed

Wright has specifically blamed renewable portfolio standards, which require utilities to source renewable energy. He said on October twenty-eight that forcing wind and solar onto grids has been a disaster.

“Subsidizing and forcing wind and solar onto electricity grids around the country has been a disaster.”

The math checks out, but causation doesn't

Wright's numbers approximately match average retail electricity prices when comparing states with and without renewable portfolio standards. But experts say the standards are not the cause of price differences.

MIT researchers: correlation isn't causation

Massachusetts Institute of Technology researchers Fischer J. Espiritu Argosino and Christopher R. Knittel found that renewable portfolio standards show a clear positive correlation with higher prices, but are not the cause.

“The correlation is real, but this does not establish causality.”

States adopted standards because prices were already high

The MIT researchers found that states with already high electricity prices were more likely to adopt renewable portfolio standards in the first place, creating the correlation Wright observes.

Wind and solar don't inherently raise prices

Paul Donohoo-Vallett, an independent energy consultant who previously worked for the Department of Energy, said Wright's claim is demonstrably false.Texas, Iowa, South Dakota and New Mexico added high levels of renewables while maintaining low prices.

“There's no inherent connection between more wind and solar and higher prices.”

Geography drives Hawaii's high prices

Hawaii's high electricity prices stem largely from geography.The island relies heavily on oil to produce electricity, putting it at the whims of the global oil market.Prices soared partly due to the war in Iran.

Natural gas pipeline constraints in the Northeast

Democrat-led Northeast states are highly reliant on pipeline-capacity-constrained natural gas, while utility-scale wind and solar resources are predominantly located in Republican-led Midwestern and Southwestern states, according to Michelle Levinson at the World Resources Institute.

Wildfires drive California's costs

California saw a massive sixty-four percent increase in rates since two thousand nineteen, driven by significant wildfire-related expenses accounting for forty percent of the rate increase at least through two thousand twenty-four, according to an…

Aging infrastructure needs replacement

New England has older transmission infrastructure than some other areas and faces high costs to upgrade due to land values, labor and taxes.

National price rises outpace inflation modestly

Between two thousand nineteen and two thousand twenty-five, average residential electricity prices nationwide rose thirty-three percent, but only five point six percent above the rate of inflation, according to a July analysis from the Lawrence…

Utility type matters more than state politics

Madalsa Singh at Rochester Institute of Technology found that in California, electricity prices were relatively flat in publicly owned utilities while investor-owned utilities had price increases making them some of the most expensive power providers…

“Neighboring utilities in states, red or blue, can have different price trajectories.”

MIT study: RPS has no detectable effect

A two thousand twenty-five MIT working paper comparing states to themselves over time between nineteen ninety-eight and two thousand twenty-three found that escalation of a state's renewable portfolio standards has no detectable effect on residential…

Rate increases align with infrastructure spending

The MIT researchers found that big rate increases over the past two decades line up with waves of capital spending on transmission and distribution, not with renewable mandates.

RPS impact varies by stringency

As of two thousand twenty-six, twenty-seven states had renewable portfolio standards, mostly controlled by Democrats. Standards requiring limited renewable energy generally don't affect prices, but very high level policies can raise prices.

RPS raised prices modestly in some regions

The Lawrence Berkeley National Lab found renewable portfolio standards raised electricity prices approximately one cent per kilowatt hour in a few New England and mid-Atlantic states between two thousand nineteen and two thousand twenty-five, with…

Rooftop solar can shift grid costs

Net metering, which compensates rooftop solar owners for power sent back to the grid, can drive up electricity prices for everyone else by shifting fixed grid maintenance costs onto households without solar.

Price rises span both red and blue states

Between two thousand twenty-four and two thousand twenty-five, thirty-nine states had electricity price increases above inflation.

Natural gas prices drove recent increases

A thirty-six percent rise in natural gas prices after hitting a low in two thousand twenty-four drove cost increases.

Data centers now driving PJM price growth

States in the region of the electric grid operated by PJM Interconnection began in two thousand twenty-five to see price increases due to rapid growth of data centers.