Economic hardships brought on by the policies of the Biden Administration have left many Wyomingites in a lurch.
While we await the resurgence of the U.S. economy, I hear regularly from many across the Cowboy State expressing that they are financially strapped and in need of reprieve.
But for certain companies, there is no apparent consideration for the people of Wyoming and their strategy of further advancing the so-called “green” energy agenda continues to wreak havoc on our friends and neighbors.
Only a couple of weeks ago, the Wyoming Public Service Commission approved another double-digit rate hike for Rocky Mountain Power (RMP).
This allows RMP’s rates to surge beyond the almost 30% rate hike so many fought against in 2023.
Although the company blames the increase on the “...rising costs of fuel and wholesale power”, the reality is that these dramatic increases in electricity costs are the result of the radical green agenda that President Trump and the Republican-led Congress are leading the charge to stop.
Like many companies, RMP decided several years ago to begin focusing its efforts and "investing" its financial resources in unreliable and expensive energy - predominantly wind and solar - as it "transitions" to "clean" energy.
While it boasts about receiving $85 million in federal tax credits and other subsidies for moving forward with this "transition," it sidesteps the fact that such subsidies did not pay for the actual production of reliable and affordable electricity, but were just part of the Biden administration's efforts to incentivize companies to "go green" despite the cost to the consumers.
In Congress, I am working diligently to disband the green energy agenda.
As we work through the budget reconciliation process, we are identifying and rooting out the boondoggles of the last four years that fostered the financial climate burdening Americans today.
This past week, I joined 37 members of Congress in a letter to Ways & Means Chairman Jason Smith, R-Mo., requesting a full repeal of the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) in the coming budget reconciliation bill.
Instead of punishing American taxpayers by giving tax breaks and subsidies to large corporations, we need to focus on deregulation and supporting those things that work, thereby creating a climate for the free market to flourish.
President Trump is also working diligently to shield constituents from both the tax implications of the Green New Scam and the related repercussions to their utility bills.
His FY26 budget request issued on May 2, “cancels over $15 billion in Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) Green New Scam funds provided to the Department of Energy for unreliable renewable energy, removing carbon dioxide from the air, and other costly technologies that burden ratepayers and consumers.”
He has also issued executive orders to bolster coal production and allow American energy to once again flourish.
It’s an interesting time for power distribution in the west with a six-state, cost-allocation agreement between Wyoming, California, Idaho, Oregon, Utah and Washington expiring at the end of 2025.
I commend our state leaders for thinking outside of the box to escape from the energy suck that is California.
Our next governor must understand the importance of shoring up energy federalism so that Wyoming can keep the energy we produce in-state rather than shipping it out, especially when our efforts in that regard have been used by those states who have the worst “climate” policies to avoid the consequences of their bad decisions.
So many in Wyoming positioned themselves well to enjoy retirement but are now having to choose between putting gas in their car, food in their cupboard, or paying their ever-increasing energy bill.
By snuffing out the Green Energy Scam, Congress and President Trump will provide an atmosphere in which our economy and the individuals within can truly prosper.
Harriet Hageman represents Wyoming in the U.S. Congress.
