On the campaign trail Donald Trump promised to “drill, baby, drill” and slash energy prices within 12 months of taking office. But just weeks before that milestone, soaring gas and electricity prices have led to rising complaints about affordability for the average American.
“I will end Kamala Harris’s anti-energy crusade and implement a policy of energy abundance, energy independence, and even energy dominance,” Trump declared in September 2024. “My plan will cut energy prices in half or more than that within 12 months.”
But since his election the cost of gas and electricity piped into people’s homes has continued climbing, with rates increasing by 9.1 and 6.9 per cent in the 12 months to the end of November. The price of fuel oil, used in home heating, jumped 11.3 per cent. Only the 0.9 per cent annual increase in the price of petrol was below the rate of inflation, an outcome that analysts say reflects the 20 per cent plunge in global oil prices over the past year.