Missouri utility bills may rise the most under Trump’s spending bill, analysis finds
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Missouri energy bills may rise by 18% by 2035 under Trump’s spending bill.
- Policy changes scrap clean energy credits, boost oil and gas leasing nationwide.
- Missouri and Kansas face steep Medicaid cuts totaling over $21 billion by 2035.
Utility bills are poised to surge in Missouri over the next decade in the wake of energy policy changes included in President Donald Trump’s mega-spending bill.
The so-called “big, beautiful bill” includes language that increases oil and gas leasing, cuts fossil fuel rates and strikes down clean energy tax credits. The bill, passed by Congress and signed by Trump, will increase electricity rates paid by consumers between 9% to 18% by 2035, according to an analysis from Energy Innovation, an energy policy think tank concerned with climate change and clean energy.
For households in Missouri, the changes will be severe, according to the analysis, which found that Missouri utility bills would rise the most of any state. Specifically, Missouri households are poised to see $130 annual increases in their energy bills by 2030 and $640 by 2035.
In neighboring Kansas, households are also expected to see increases in their bills. The analysis found that Kansas bills could rise $140 each year by 2030 and $380 by 2035.
“Households in Missouri will face significantly increased energy costs,” according to the analysis, which made the same conclusion for Kansas.
The analysis comes amid a bevy of criticism surrounding the spending bill. While touted as a key policy initiative for Trump, the bill has also faced fierce resistance for its impact on the national debt and cuts to social safety net programs, which could leave thousands without health insurance.
The United Way of Greater Kansas City is one of the groups that has sought to help residents with their utilities. The organization has been monitoring changes at the federal level to figure out how to respond to community needs, said spokesperson Kera Mashek.
For Mashek, utility assistance is one of the top five reasons why people reach out to the organization.
Those calls have fueled several programs, such as direct financial assistance through a debit card and a partnership with Evergy that provides utility help for people with health problems, Mashek said.
“One of the challenges that Kansas Citians have a lot of trouble with is paying their utility bills,” Mashek said. “So we recognize that and have tried to really continue to innovate and find new ways that we can help families to meet that challenge.”
Despite the criticism of Trump’s bill and the expected impact on energy bills, every Republican senator from Kansas and Missouri supported the legislation during a narrow U.S. Senate vote earlier this month.
In the U.S. House, just days later, the vote was split along party lines. All nine Republican House lawmakers, from Kansas and Missouri, supported the bill, while the three Democrats from both states voted against the legislation.
In addition to increased energy bills, Missouri is poised to lose roughly 14% — or $17 billion — of its federal Medicaid funding in the next decade under the bill, according to KFF, a nonprofit that researches health policy.
Kansas could lose approximately 11% or $4 billion, according to the organization.
This story was originally published July 16, 2025 at 1:13 PM.
