When Washington gets in the way, your energy bills go up

Jan 29, 2026 by AFP

Americans want prices to go down — especially their energy bills.

We’ve already explained why prices are high and what actually helps bring them down. Now it’s time to talk about the so-called solutions that have failed to produce lower prices.

Those solutions have something in common: They rely on top-down, government-mandated approaches that give Washington bureaucrats and politicians (not the free market) more power.

It’s always the same script:

A problem arises.

Politicians see their chance and come up with new ways to involve the government.

They throw your tax dollars at expensive government programs.

The policies fail, and the problem gets worse.

If this all sounds familiar, it should.

When the Biden administration followed this playbook, energy prices skyrocketed by 30% in just four years.

Biden policies: Billions spent, nothing in return

During his four years in the White House, the Biden administration followed a simple (and damaging) energy policy: subsidize some energy industries and punish others.

Here’s just some of the policies the former administration implemented:

The administration canceled, delayed, or halted thousands of oil leases and other energy projects like the Keystone pipeline.
Washington doled out billions of dollars (at least $341 billion) in subsidies, incentives, and loan guarantees to well-connected green energy companies to kickstart a so-called green economy.
Top-down de facto electric vehicle mandates pushed demand for more electricity without ensuring our grid could handle it.

This wasn’t an accident. For years, politicians and bureaucrats in Washington have been in the business of picking winners and losers in the energy industry.

Sometimes these policies are marketed as necessary to protect the environment. Other times, they’re sold as plans to boost “emerging” industries. But they all follow the same recipe.

Despite (or maybe because of) all this meddling in the energy business, prices didn’t go down during the Biden administration.

You paid more for your utility bills and gas while Washington doled out billions of your tax dollars to help prop up failing energy companies.

And even though these policies failed, there are politicians eager to put the same ideas back on the table — making life harder and less affordable for working families.

The real way to get prices down

Washington policies should make life easier, not harder, for working families.

That’s why AFP launched the “Prosperity Is Possible” campaign. We’re pushing for common sense reforms to get the bureaucracy out, lower costs, and put families back in control of their budgets.

Lawmakers need to hear directly from the people paying for bad decisions.

Tell your elected officials to make life more affordable for all Americans.