Donald Trump promised that, as president, he would drastically lower Americans' energy bills. "[W]e're going to make it a much -- a much different place," Trump said during a November 14 speech at Mar-a-Lago. "We're going to slash energy costs. We're going to get your energy bills in half."

But hundreds of Alabama residents are receiving a $100 surcharge on their energy bills as a direct result of Trump's actions in the White House. About 250 customers of Huntsville Utilities, the public utility company in Huntsville, Alabama, received a letter informing them that their account "has been debited $100." The surcharge occurred because one of Trump's executive orders froze a grant that assists low-income residents with their energy bills.

In an email, Mike Presley of the Alabama Department of Economic and Community Affairs confirmed that the letter from Huntsville Utilities was genuine and the $100 increase was the direct result of Trump's executive order.

Alabama received a "$1 million allocation for the LIHEAP program from the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) for fiscal year 2025," Presley wrote. "Under the IIJA, eligible households that receive heating assistance from the regular [Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program] LIHEAP program funds also receive a supplemental award of $100 from these IIJA funds to help with home heating costs until the IIJA funds are depleted." But, according to Presley, "[t]his supplemental funding is currently paused due to President Trump’s executive order titled Unleashing American Energy."

The executive order states that "agencies shall immediately pause the disbursement of funds appropriated through the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 (Public Law 117-169) or the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (Public Law 117-58)." The executive order says it is designed to address "high energy costs," including utility bills. But, in Alabama, it is having the opposite effect. It is not immediately known how many people will be similarly impacted nationwide.

"The Trump-Vance Administration's promise to slash Americans' electricity rates is turning out to be a blatant con job, leaving struggling families to foot the bill—literally," Daniel Tait of the Energy Policy Institute told Popular Information. "Instead of lower rates, many folks are getting sucker-punched with unexpected charges and revoked utility bill assistance."

The additional LIHEAP funding is not the only initiative frozen by the Trump administration that could increase energy costs for consumers. In a January 31 letter to then-Acting Energy Secretary Ingrid C. Kolb, Congresswoman Marcy Kaptur (D-OH) and Senator Patty Murray (D-WA) note that the executive order defunds the "Home Energy Rebates programs" which "can lower energy bills by providing up to $14,000 per household in rebates."

In addition to raising costs, Kaptur and Murray argue that Trump's executive order, "Unleashing American Energy," is illegal. "The President may not unilaterally decide to ignore the laws passed by Congress and stop funding for programs just because he disagrees with their goals," they write. "Not only does the Constitution vest the power of the purse with Congress and provide no power to the President to impound funds, but there have been several bedrock fiscal statutes enacted to protect Congress’ constitutional power of the purse and prevent unlawful executive overreach, including the Antideficiency Act and the Impoundment Control Act of 1974 (ICA)."

The executive order also suggests that energy efficiency standards for "lightbulbs, dishwashers, washing machines, gas stoves, water heaters, toilets, and shower heads" should be rolled back. If Trump follows through on that policy, it could also eventually increase utility bills for Americans.