Your electric bill will rise in NC. Here’s how, and who’s to blame. | Opinion
This past year, my family used federal tax credits to replace our HVAC system with a more energy efficient system. Thanks to these tax credits and rebates, we saved $2850 on the system — and that’s not counting the savings we’re getting on a monthly basis from having an electric heat pump system instead of a gas-powered one.
Unfortunately, the tax credits that helped our family save money are disappearing at the end of the year, thanks to President Donald Trump’s “big beautiful bill” that passed Congress this summer. This couldn’t come at a worse time, as utility bills are up an average of 11% nationally.
Electricity prices are rising at more than twice the rate of inflation, and one in every six U.S. households is already behind on their electric or gas bills. Meanwhile, nearly 60 electric and gas utilities are raising or trying to raise utility bills for 56 million electric customers and 26 million gas customers this year.
Because of Trump’s tax bill, American households will see their electricity prices increase by $130 per year by 2030. North Carolina is faring even worse: Duke Energy Carolinas received approval for rate increases that will result in average monthly bills increasing by $220 per year by 2026. If Trump and Republican members of Congress had left the clean energy tax credits in place, Americans would instead be saving $38 billion on electricity bills by 2030.
You don’t have to take just my word for it: In 2023, more than 3.4 million American families benefitted from $8.4 billion in tax credits to lower the costs of clean energy and energy efficiency upgrades to their homes.
This spring, the Trump administration also laid off the entire staff of a critical federal program that helps low-income Americans pay their heating and cooling bills — putting the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) and its funding in jeopardy.
The program has been an indispensable resource for the people of our state for many years. In fiscal year 2024, North Carolina received more than $122 million in LIHEAP funding, which helped more than 204,000 households with heating assistance and year-round crisis assistance. What’s going to happen to these families without this assistance?
Rather than helping, the Trump administration’s EPA is slashing critical infrastructure and disaster response programs left and right. This includes an $18.5 million grant for clean energy workforce development in High Point, a $20 million grant for water quality testing in Brunswick County, a grant for an air monitoring program in north Mecklenburg County and a grant to address private well contamination in Sampson County.
On top of all of this, disaster relief for North Carolina local governments, farmers, and ranchers impacted by Hurricane Helene is being delayed by the government shutdown. Our state was recently allocated $221 million in federal funds as part of the Disaster Block Grant for Helene to cover economic, infrastructure and agricultural losses caused by the storm. Now it will take even longer for these funds to get to the people who need them most.
The clean energy tax credits helped me afford updates to my home that save me money every month. I’ve spent months telling my neighbors about these tax credits and encouraging them to take advantage of this free money. No one I know wanted them to go away. Yet, that’s exactly what Trump and other Republicans decided to do.
Take advantage of these tax credits while you still can. You can potentially save thousands of dollars on upgrades that will save you thousands more in the years ahead. And if you do, make your voice heard to your elected representatives and let them know they should be making life more affordable for their constituents, not less.
Dale Evarts is a climate and air quality expert from Durham. From 1988-2018, he worked with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to reduce air pollution. He has worked with the United Nations and other countries to reduce pollutants.