Natural gas prices climbing, as U.S. boosts exports
Affordability seems to have been neglected, leaving consumers to pick up the tab
Consumers often have the feeling that there’s more to rising prices of energy, food and pharmaceuticals than they’re being told. Unfortunately, they’re usually right.
Take natural gas, for instance. Prices for U.S. consumers have risen more than $16 billion. Meanwhile, exports of liquified natural gas have expanded by 26% during the first year of President Trump’s second term in office, according to a new report from Public Citizen.
What happens when you raise exports of a commodity? That’s right. The price goes up for the folks back home, in this case the 74 million American households that use natural gas for heating, cooking and other everyday necessities. It also affects the price of electricity, since natural gas is the largest source of electricity generation in the U.S., contributing about 40% of total output.
And yet, with demand rising and supplies relatively static at home, the U.S. last year for the first time ever, exported more natural gas than it used domestically — some 5.5 trillion cubic feet of the stuff, a 26% increase over the previous year, which also set a record.
Profits for gas producers, not surprisingly, grew accordingly. A few examples drawn from company reports:
2025 net income: $5.3 billion (up ~64%)
Revenue jumped to nearly $20 billion
Quarterly revenue up 192% year-over-year
Core profit up ~191%
“The explosion in fossilized gas exports directly contributes to higher utility bills for American families,” said Tyson Slocum, director of Public Citizen’s Energy Program. “When fossil fuel companies send their products abroad, it increases the price of energy here at home.
“The Trump Administration prioritizes—and celebrates—windfall profits for gas exporters, while turning its back on his explicit campaign pledge to reduce all Americans’ utility bills in half within his first year. Instead, record LNG exports increased utility bills across the nation,” Slocum said.
Domestic prices rise steadily
The massive exports are responsible for the prices paid by consumers going up by nearly 21%, according to Public Citizen. In total, gas utility bills spiked by $16 billion in 2025, forcing the average family to pay nearly $181 more during the first year of Trump’s second term.
Some states were hit harder than others. In Virginia, fossilized gas prices increased by 30%, increasing costs for energy by nearly $275 more for the average Virginia household.
According to the National Consumer Law Center’s analysis of the latest Residential Energy Consumption Survey, one-third of American households struggle with energy affordability and access, marking a sharp increase from previous surveys.
Gas goes global - and powers data centers
The United States used to be in a gas bubble, mostly supplying gas to itself. But now, it’s a major supplier to a world hungry for gas. The situation is especially dicey just now, thanks to the war in Iran.
Here at home, demand for energy is growing because of, you guessed it, data centers, which are sucking up as much electricity as they can find. The Trump Administration’s elimination of new wind and solar power plants isn’t helping matters.
The longtime natural gas surplus has “vanished” and been replaced by a “structurally tighter market,” as one analyst put it.
The Trump Administration has consistently argued that exports should not come at the expense of U.S. consumers and that domestic prices should stay low. Trump attributes higher energy prices to government policy and argues they would fall with more domestic production and fewer restrictions.
Maybe so, but that doesn’t do much for today’s consumers and doesn’t seem to fit with the White House emphasis on affordability.