U.S. electricity prices have risen from 13 cents per kilowatt-hour in 2020 to 19 cents per kWh in 2025. Prices on the East and West coasts and in major US cities are far higher. Most of these price increases took place under the Biden administration when states and the Federal government forced wind and solar into the grid at the expense of coal, natural gas, and the U.S. consumer. Prices for electricity, prior to 2020, were nearly flat, for a decade.  People and businesses are talking about energy as electricity prices rise and demand for power grows. As companies scale up AI data centers, demand for power is growing, and the call on electricity from utility companies will continue to rise. States like New York and California are seeing prices as high as 40 cents per kWh, in some cities, nearly as high as electricity prices in Germany, at 45 cents per kWh.  But the increase in electricity prices began before the large data centers and AI demand. Prices started rising in the U.S. in the past few years with the decommissioning of coal fired power generation and the rapid additions of wind and solar power into the grid. Low cost, reliable, and dispatchable power, in the form of coal, (and nuclear power in California), has been removed as higher cost and intermittent power from wind and solar was added.  These rising costs are happening in the most energy-rich nation in the world. The U.S. is producing 13.8 million barrels per day of oil and 132 Billion Cubic Feet per day of natural gas and has more coal reserves than any nation on earth. The U.S. has no excuse for such high electricity costs or lack of access to energy. Each year hundreds of thousands of households are disconnected from utilities due to rising costs.  The demand for power comes not just from AI, but homeowners, businesses, and critically, manufacturing. Access to energy and low utility bills do not just help the American household and consumer, they help business and manufacturing and give the U.S. strategic advantages against major competitors like China. China’s abundant and cheap coal fired power generation costs as low as .03 kWh in Xinjiang, underpinning their ability to manufacture goods, from making T-shirts to refining rare earths.  The Trump administration has prioritized energy policy reforms, focusing on deregulation, refilling the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, and emphasizing liquid natural gas (LNG) exports. The administration is also focused on reinvigorating the defense industrial base and producing more goods in the U.S., from chips to automobiles. All of this requires energy, specifically electricity. And competition with nations like China increasingly comes down to resource access and energy costs. Henry Hub is the pricing point for natural gas futures on the New York Mercantile Exchange. In the U.S., Henry Hub natural gas prices have been over $3 a thousand cubic feet/mcf in 2025 but were only $2 in 2024. The consumer, however, does not see these low natural gas prices the same way they see lower fuel prices at the pump with lower oil prices. The residential consumer paid an average of $17 mcf in 2024 and has paid an average of $19 in 2025. The American consumer and American business are not seeing the pass-through benefits of high natural gas production and low natural gas prices the way they are benefiting from U.S. oil production.  The Energy Information Administration’s latest Short-Term Energy Outlook is projecting a spike in natural gas prices in 2026 and 2027, not because more natural gas will be pulled into the U.S. grid for power generation, but because LNG exports are expected to rise at a steady clip. There are growing concerns about price spikes and shortages of U.S. natural gas due to rising LNG exports. Some are now pointing to natural gas and growing LNG exports, in addition to AI, as the source of rising electricity prices.  The U.S. has sufficient natural gas to support LNG export growth, growing electricity demand for AI, manufacturing, and the American consumer, but this natural gas needs to get into the grid. To ensure affordable and reliable electricity, utilities need to prioritize dispatchable energy sources like natural gas and coal while halting any wind and solar expansion. The decommissioning of coal fired power generation needs to stop, and utilities need to begin passing along natural gas savings to the consumer.  President Donald Trump has made energy a key priority of this administration. Utility companies need to squarely address their Environmental, Social, and Governance pay metrics and alignment with global climate initiatives and focus on affordable energy. The American household and industry should not be paying utility companies to put wind and solar into the grid while disadvantaging affordable, stable, reliable, and energy dense fuels like natural gas and coal.  Natural gas power generation should be surging. When paired with reliable, low-cost American coal this energy abundance will allow American households to thrive and American industries and businesses to compete directly with China.  We publish a variety of perspectives. Nothing written here is to be construed as representing the views of The Daily Signal. The post Rising Electricity Prices Started Well Before AI appeared first on The Daily Signal.

The Redemption of the Slingblade Singularity

As well as the moral issues, you have some orbital challenges to overcome.

“America should be thrilled, but wanting more."

David Bozell, president of the Media Research Center, is joining the growing chorus of voices calling for greater transparency from the government into Thomas Crooks, the Pennsylvania man who attempted to assassinate President Trump in a July 2024 campaign rally. On the Jenny Beth Show Monday, Bozell told Jenny Beth Martin, an original organizer of the Tea Party movement and the co-founder of Tea Party Patriots, that the media seems to lack any curiosity about Crooks. I'm frustrated at the lack of information coming from the FBI about this case. There should have been more information released. And I'm not the only one. Eric Trump has gone viral saying that he's not satisfied with the pace of information being released about Thomas Crooks and other types of crimes.  Maybe there's a long game being played, maybe there's an investigation they can't talk about, but I don't think they've done a very good job of being as transparent as necessary. At this moment, the candidate that tens of millions of people voted for three times nearly had his face blown off on national television. That would sort of demand some curiosity out of the media and demand some information out of the FBI. Read more here OMISSION: Elitist News Media HIDE Shocking New Trump Shooter Details. Watch full interview here.  

Officials, including activist judges, refuse to let Republican efforts to fight crime go unpunished, with the most recent challenge coming from Tennessee. On Monday, a Tennessee judge blocked the deployment of the National Guard to clean up the city of Memphis.'I’m grateful for the President’s commitment to keeping Memphians safe by ensuring we have every federal resource at our disposal.'According to the AP, Davidson County Chancellor Patricia Head Moskal, a Democrat, decided that Republican Governor Bill Lee does not have the power to deploy the Tennessee National Guard in the absence of rebellion or invasion. The judge found that the deployment of the National Guard likely violates the state's military code and that state officials "are suffering or will suffer irreparable harm” if the injunction isn’t granted, according to NBC News.RELATED: Task force locates 101 missing children, arrests so many suspects the Memphis jail is running out of room: Report Photo by AUSTIN JOHNSON/AFP via Getty ImagesMoskal paused the order for at least five days to give the government time to file an “immediate application for permission to appeal.”Democrat Shelby County Mayor Lee Harris, a plaintiff in the case, said he was "pleased" with the decision. "This is a positive step toward ensuring the rule of law applies to everyone, including everyday Tennesseans and even the Governor," Harris said on X. The National Guard arrived in Memphis, Tennessee, on October 10 as part of the so-called Memphis Safe Task Force. Upon the task force's establishment in the middle of September, Governor Lee posted on X, "I’m grateful for the President’s commitment to keeping Memphians safe by ensuring we have every federal resource at our disposal."Democrat Memphis Mayor Paul Young, who is not party to the lawsuit, said that he wanted the task force to target violent offenders, a major problem in the city. The Memphis Safe Task Force has been highly successful by many metrics, including recovering over 100 children from human trafficking networks by November.Newsmax host Todd Starnes said in response to the judge's ruling, "Will the Democrats also demand that the missing children recovered by the task force be returned to the human traffickers?"Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

Bill Maher criticized those behind the Democratic Socialist movement, stating that the Democratic Party must move to the center if it wants to win elections.During a Friday episode of HBO’s “Real Time with Bill Maher,” Maher described how Democrats have become divided, with some pushing socialist ideals and others advocating for a more centrist position. He compared the comments of New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani, a self-described Democratic Socialist, to those of Virginia Governor-elect Abigail Spanberger (D), who stated that the party should never “use the words ‘socialist’ or ‘socialism’ ever again.”'Because socialism, to put it simply, just doesn’t work and has never worked.'Spanberger also previously stated that if the party does not shift toward the center, “We will get f**king torn apart.”“So how do we decide who’s right?” Maher asked. “Well, it turns out we don’t really have to flip a coin; we have the evidence. In 2024, 13 Democrats won in districts Trump also won.”Maher noted that all of those Democrats were “moderates.” “All the left-leaning think tanks have done autopsies on 2024, and they all came up with the same message: Move to the center,” he said. RELATED: Bill Maher destroys the left on the trans issue: ‘You can’t just say s**t’ Zohran Mamdani. Photo by Alexi J. Rosenfeld/Getty ImagesMaher stated that Generation Z has warmed to socialism because they attribute current affordability challenges to capitalism.“No one wants to be approaching middle age and still writing their name on food before they put it in the fridge. So they’re quitting, quiet quitting, capitalism and texting socialism that they’re down to f**k,” Maher continued. “The thing is, socialism will f**k you. Because socialism, to put it simply, just doesn’t work and has never worked.”“If you think New York can somehow reinvent this wheel, you’re in for a rude a-woke-ning,” Maher said.He contended that Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.), and Mamdani are “not Democrats.”“They’ll be the first to tell you that. They’re Democratic Socialists, and that’s a very different thing, and I don’t think people know that yet,” he added.RELATED: Mamdani sells socialism — and Republicans peddle the Temu version Bernie Sanders. Photo by Joe Maher/Getty Images For FaneMaher explained that the U.S. already has “a lot of socialism,” citing Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, unemployment insurance, food stamps, veteran benefits, Pell grants, COVID-era payments, farm subsidies, disability payments, Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, corporate bailouts, and the military-industrial complex.He slammed the Democratic Socialists of America as “radicals” who want “completely open borders.” He also accused the group of “p***y politics,” stating that they required convention attendees in 2025 to submit a negative COVID test. Maher criticized the DSA's request for attendees not to clap but to use “jazz hands” instead, as well as the stipulation against wearing “aggressive scents” during the conference to accommodate those sensitive to sensory overload.“This is who the Democrats are thinking of following? You know, Chuck Schumer ain’t perfect, but at least he doesn’t crumble into a heap when confronted with Chanel No. 5,” Maher stated. “You may not clap in the traditional way,” he told his audience.Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

HA! Tiffany Fong's Takedown of Eric Swalwell and His 'Checkmate, Mr. President' Post the Stuff of LEGEND

What This Chinese Spy Got Away With in Kathy Hochul’s Name Boggles the Mind, Court Docs Reveal

New 'Fake News' Claim About Trump and Flag at the White House Fails Badly When Facts Drop