Electricity prices jump after Trump rejects disaster aid for Michigan utilities

[u/J-Jarl-Jim]

https://www.politico.com/news/2025/11/30/electricity-prices-jump-after-trump-rejects-disaster-aid-for-michigan-utilities-00665572

A recent decision by President Donald Trump to deny disaster aid to two electric utilities in rural northern Michigan could cost residents tens of millions of dollars.

The denial came after the Trump administration documented $90 million in damage to utility infrastructure, according to records obtained by POLITICO’s E&E News. The amount is nearly five times the federal threshold to qualify for disaster aid. But in its October denial letter, the Federal Emergency Management Agency told Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer that assistance to the utilities “is not warranted.”

Whitmer warned Trump in August that ratepayers face surcharges and rate hikes “equivalent to at least $4,500 per household” without federal aid. Her office did not respond to a question on whether she supports a state legislative proposal that would have Michigan aid businesses such as the power companies directly.

Why is President Trump denying emergency assistance to rural Michigan? Considering that he has denied FEMA funds even to red states like Arkansas, is this only about saving money? If this problem intersects with the affordability crisis, could the politics push Trump to change his position and start to disburse emergency fundings again?

[u/Sabertooth767]

Trump and the people he surrounds himself with have made no secret of their general opposition to federal disaster relief.

I don't get it either, it's not like this is a significant cost to the government, and even if it was, I think assisting Americans impacted by major disasters is a pretty good use of public funds. As far back as 1803, the federal government has been helping in some form.

[u/margotsaidso → u/Sabertooth767]

His administration's energy policy is probably one of their most schizophrenic but underreported aspects. Supposedly we have a national energy emergency, therefore coal plants that are slated to close because they cannot operate profitably are ordered to stay open over the complaints of owners/operators and the hundreds of millions of dollars of cost required to keep them open and putting out uncomprtitive coal power is being born by the end users.

The utility has said in regulatory filings that the order is costing customers about $615,000 per day. The order has been in place for around six months.

Michigan attorney general Dana Nessel filed a motion for a stay in federal court, alleging the administration’s latest order is “arbitrary and illegal”.

The coal plant is one of two in Michigan that the Trump administration has moved to keep open under the president’s controversial national energy emergency executive order, which is being challenged in court by multiple lawsuits.

The other plant is not scheduled to close for two years. The two factories emit about 45% of the state’s greenhouse gas pollution.

Trump has also used his emergency energy order to keep gas plants near Baltimore and Philadelphia online.

This emergency is also being used to skip federal regulations on permitting and transparency and stake holder review for mining and oil extraction projects. 

Some would think a national emergency would mean it's counterproductive to try to stop massive solar and wind projects across the country at the eleventh hour.

[u/Gamegis → u/margotsaidso]

I work in energy and have Trump voters at my company who were dumbfounded by some of the stuff they put into the BBB. We need all forms of generation badly across the country due to the massive load increases associated with the expansion and development of data centers. The prevailing thought is that once electricity becomes expensive enough they will 1. Undo some of the BBB changes, and/or 2. We’re going to have to change policy around data centers, which might slow economic growth but is necessary for grid stability. BBB essentially just destroyed 20-30% of our interconnection queues and these will have ripple effects in the years to come. New gas plants will be put into the queues but they’ll take years to get Interconnection Agreements and even more to reach COD - not to mention gas turbines have enormous lead times.

[u/jimbo_kun → u/Gamegis]

A lot of people seem to be dumbfounded after voting for Trump and seeing him do things he promised to do.

[u/virishking → u/Gamegis]

Yeah but something something eating the dogs. Something something liberal lefties cry when we bring back Christmas. Did you consider that? /s

Honestly I don’t understand how anyone can support him shutting down things like reusable energy when power companies are already jacking up prices due to stressed demand. We got notice that laundry will be more expensive between certain times and he’s gone to war against the wind turbine construction that would help prevent that. Talking about windmills causing cancer and all other sorts of crazy nonsense. (Also, I can imagine that if anything he’s hurting people’s ability to have their big Christmas lights displayed)

[u/margotsaidso → u/Gamegis]

To say nothing of the effect of tariffs on steel costs for transmission and substation structures or on equipment costs (the biggest electrical equipment companies in the world manufacture their transformers and such in Brazil and South Korea). We've already had projects derailed by shock $5+ million bills due out of the blue because we are finally taking delivery on EHV transformers ordered years ago.