Hundreds of Americans Get Surprise Electric Bill After Trump Change - Newsweek
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Anna Skinner is a Newsweek senior reporter based in Indianapolis. Her focus is reporting on the climate, environment and weather but she also reports on other topics for the National News Team. She has covered climate change and natural disasters extensively. Anna joined Newsweek in 2022 from Current Publishing, a local weekly central Indiana newspaper where she worked as a managing editor. She was a 2021 finalist for the Indy's Best & Brightest award in the media, entertainment and sports category. You can get in touch with Anna by emailing a.skinner@newsweek.com. Languages: English.
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Some Huntsville, Alabama, residents saw a $100 increase in their electric bills after a recent executive order signed by President Donald Trump.
Newsweek reached out to the Community Action Partnership of Huntsville/Madison & Limestone Counties via email for comment.
Why It Matters
Since taking office in January, Trump has signed a flurry of executive orders enacting his conservative agenda, quickly fulfilling campaign promises with several immigration-related executive orders, ending diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programs, and orders related to the economy and energy production.
Among other things, the president withdrew from the landmark Paris Agreement, rescinded 78 Biden-era executive actions and implemented a federal hiring freeze.
President Donald Trump signs a series of executive orders in the Oval Office at the White House on February 10, 2025.President Donald Trump signs a series of executive orders in the Oval Office at the White House on February 10, 2025.Andrew Harnik/Getty
What To Know
On February 4, Huntsville Utilities in Alabama sent some of its customers a letter alerting them that a grant they previously received was no longer valid. The grant was distributed by the Community Action Partnership of Huntsville/Madison & Limestone Counties.
In a photo of one such letter posted on Facebook, the utility company told its customer that the grant they had received "for $100 on January 23, 2025, is no longer valid due to President Trump's Executive Order to rescind the funding behind the grant."
The company alerted the customer that the $100 has been debited to their account and is due on their next invoice.
More than $50 million in federal funds that Alabama received for this year's Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) was unaffected by Trump's executive order because the funds came from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, al.com reported. LIHEAP provides heating bill assistance to those in need, and it was unaffected by Trump's executive order.
LIHEAP received $1 million from the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA). This act grants an additional $100 to households receiving LIHEAP assistance. Unleashing American Energy paused the supplemental funding from the IIJA, meaning that the families who received the grant in January now must pay for it with their next electric bill.
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What People Are Saying
A Facebook post from an account that shared an image of one of the Huntsville Utilities letters: "Huntsville, Alabama had a federally-funded grant program that helped low income people pay their utility bills. Trump ended that program via executive order and now people are being sent bills to repay the grants they received in January and will be getting no such support moving forward. When billionaires say they are cutting 'government waste,' this is what they mean."
The Unleashing American Energy executive order reads: "All 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 goes on to say that those agencies "shall review their processes, policies, and programs for issuing grants, loans, contracts, or any other financial disbursements of such appropriated funds for consistency" with the order's law and policy.
What Happens Next
If a customer was impacted by the rescinded grant, they should contact the Community Action Partnership of Huntsville/Madison & Limestone Counties for further guidance.
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Today’s FAFO moment. After promising to lower energy costs, Trump has personally raised them for these people. People who probably voted for him.
They'll have to pull themselves up by their MAGA hats,
This seed makes no sense. The headline blames an executive order from Trump for this grant being rescinded, but then there is this in the seed...(emphasis mine)
"More than $50 million in federal funds that Alabama received for this year's Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) was unaffected by Trump's executive order because the funds came from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
Typo? Maybe. But the story makes it look like the EO was not the reason for the increase.
A little less emotional account of this situation.....
Trump executive order leads to $100 charge for 250 Huntsville Utilities customers - al.com
From the article:
"According to Mike Presley from the Alabama Department of Economic and Community Affairs, only a small portion of the federal funds allocated to Alabama for the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) are currently paused by an executive order signed by Trump. The state received $53 million from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services for fiscal year 2025 as part of the regular yearly allocation for the LIHEAP program. Community action agencies are currently providing emergency assistance with home heating bills to eligible households through that funding, which can range from $280-$550. There is no pause in that funding."
So putting an unnecessary financial burden on already needy people is cool if we just say it was a small portion? One of the saddest markers of MAGAism is the glee with which they abandon basic human empathy. Meanwhile Musk has made how much money since Trump was sworn in? I don't see how anybody justifies what is happening right now. This isn't good governance. It's just cruelty.
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