"One Big Beautiful Bill" Risks 50% Higher Power Prices, Energy Supply Crisis

America can't afford the U.S. House's Reconciliation bill

The Reconciliation bill moving through the United States Congress would set our economy back by years, kneecap America’s competitiveness against countries like China, arrest our ability to meet rising power demand from data centers, and force families and businesses to pay billions in higher energy costs.

New Energy Innovation analysis of the 2025 Reconciliation bill, aka the “One Big Beautiful Bill,” warns it would cost our country 830,000 jobs by 2030, cut $1.1 trillion from cumulative GDP between 2026 and 2034, increase wholesale power prices 50 percent and impose more than $33 billion in higher energy bills on households by 2035.

While the Reconciliation bill is advertised as a way to provide economic relief for Americans by increasing oil and gas drilling while killing off clean energy tax credits passed by Congress and repealing clean air regulations enacted by the Biden administration, the reality is far more sinister.

Clean energy investment has jump started our economy, generating hundreds of billions in new investment for factories and projects and hundreds of thousands of new jobs since August 2022. Clean energy has also plugged new electricity generation onto our grid as utilities ring the alarm about rising power demand fueled by data centers and manufacturing.

The “One Big Beautiful Bill” would grind all that to a halt.

Just the threat of policy repeal has forced investors to cancel nearly $7 billion in proposed clean energy projects since January, and if the bill were passed, widespread project cancellations would cost our workers more than 830,000 jobs in 2030 and nearly 720,000 jobs in 2035.

The Reconciliation bill would also cut off the best option to build enough new generation to keep our lights on. Electricity demand is could increase as much as 15.8 percent in the next four years with 128 gigawatts (GW) of new load coming online. Clean energy has led the charge so far, adding 90 percent of all new generation capacity added to America’s grid in 2024 while gas turbine manufacturers face delivery backlogs until at least 2029.

But if the bill becomes law, generation capacity additions would dramatically fall by 114 GW by 2030 and 302 GW by 2035 - risking an energy crisis right when we need new power more than ever.

Cutting off clean energy options would hit American families and businesses with higher energy bills - right as 34 percent of U.S. households have had to cut back or skip necessary expenses in the past 12 months to pay energy bills. The current Reconciliation text would spike annual consumer energy costs an average of $120 per year in 2030 and $230 per year in 2035. Meanwhile businesses would have to pay $65 billion more in fuel and operations and maintenance costs in 2030 and $94 billion more in 2035.

These price spikes still hit even if the Reconciliation bill increases U.S. oil and gas production as intended. Lower prices from higher fuel production are more than offset by greater demand for those fuels and higher electricity costs, forcing households to pay more for their energy. More internal combustion engine vehicles on the road means more demand for gasoline and diesel, while increased reliance on burning gas to generate electricity tightens supplies and increases prices.

Gas has been relatively cheap in recent years, but the U.S. Energy Information Administration forecasts prices will rise 91 percent by 2026 with “additional risk over the forecast period” from new liquefied natural gas exports. Even new clean energy would become more expensive as utilities and power market operators are forced to pay more for new generation, passing that increased cost directly through to consumers.

Why would our elected officials choose to cancel billions in investments and kill thousands of good jobs when warning signs are flashing for our economy and 82 percent of Americans say they’re worried about a potential recession?

Inflation and power demand are rising. Clean energy helps solve both problems. America simply can’t afford another hit to our economy and can’t stand to lose the new electricity we desperately need.