The Brief

On the campaign trail, President Donald Trump promised to cut Americans' energy bills in half — cheaper gasoline, cheaper electricity. He also said he'd "unleash" American energy production, often repeating the catchphrase "Drill, baby, drill."

One year in, the price of gasoline is down about 20%. But the U.S. oil industry is definitely not drilling, baby, drilling. The price of oil is just too low to justify more of it — although within the last year, companies have won major lobbying victories that soothe that sting. Meanwhile, electricity costs are rising and expected to rise more.

Cheap gasoline: check 

The U.S. benchmark price for oil is down about 20% from where it was a year ago, and the average retail gasoline price — the price drivers pay at the pump — is down nearly 10%.

Now, presidents — whoever they are — do not get to decide the price of gasoline. The price of crude oil is the biggest factor, and crude prices are set in a complex global marketplace that responds to a number of factors.

In the past year, cheaper crude has been largely driven by a global oversupply of oil, which in turn was largely driven by a series of decisions by the oil cartel OPEC+. The cartel repeatedly put more barrels on the market, depressing global prices but seizing more market share for its members.

However, Dan Pickering, the chief investment officer at Pickering Energy Partners, says the president also put significant pressure on OPEC to bring down global crude prices. As a result, he gives Trump partial credit for today's low prices.

"I think if we look at oil down 20% in 2025, that you have to say that political dynamics drove at least half of that," he says. "And as we go into 2026, I think those dynamics will still be at play."

Moving forward, the president's push to produce more oil from Venezuela could also help keep global crude prices lower for longer — if he persuades companies to invest.

Analysts with the gas prices app GasBuddy found that U.S. households spent, on average, $177 less on gasoline in 2025 than 2024, thanks to lower prices, and they predict that expenditures will continue to fall in 2026, saving Americans a collective $11 billion next year.

Drill, baby, drill? Not so much.

Those lower oil prices are exactly why "Drill, baby, drill" didn't happen.

The number of active drilling rigs in the U.S., the largest oil producer in the world, has dropped by more than 6% year-over-year, at last count. That means fewer new wells are being drilled. And that's true even as the Trump administration has made it easier for companies to start new projects, including by making more federal lands and waters available for leases.

With U.S. oil prices under $60 a barrel and the global market generally oversupplied with crude, it's just not profitable for companies to drill a bunch of new wells right now.

The Trump administration has many close allies in the U.S. oil industry. But this is a perennial point of disagreement between them: The president loves cheap oil, while companies would prefer prices to be higher than they are today.

This disagreement was actually called out by Secretary of Energy Chris Wright — a former fracking executive. Speaking to CBS News' Face the Nation this month, he called President Trump "no helper to the oil and gas industry" because "he's driven down the price of oil."

It's true that many U.S. oil workers wince every time the president talks about $50 crude or pushes for more production from OPEC. But it's not quite fair to call the administration "no helper."

The American Petroleum Institute, or API, is the most powerful lobbying arm of the U.S. oil and gas industry. Before Trump was reelected, the group laid out a dozen different policy priorities — a wish list. Tax policy changes that would help oil companies; more access to drilling in the Gulf; a boost in exports of liquefied natural gas; the repeal of requirements for cleaner and more efficient cars, which would have pushed down oil demand over time; the elimination of a fee for releasing planet-warming methane.

"By our count, every single one of them was completed in 2025, with the exception of legislative permitting reform," Mike Sommers, the president and CEO of API, said on a recent call with reporters. ("Permitting reform" refers to a series of changes to federal laws that would make it easier for companies to build things like pipelines and other large projects that often face local opposition. It's been a hot topic in Congress for years.)

Sommers says U.S. companies can weather low oil prices in the short term and make business decisions with an eye toward the future.

And in the long term, the administration's policy changes support higher oil demand for years to come by doing things like slowing down the shift toward electric vehicles, while also cutting the costs of oil production, including by easing environmental rules.

Electricity costs are rising

Electricity prices have been increasing for years now, and 2025 was more of the same.

"Across most states and in most markets, what we see is that prices have gone up," says Helen Kou, an analyst with BloombergNEF.

Based on trends in wholesale power markets — where your local electric company buys its power, an expense they pass on to you — that's likely to continue. Kou said that in New York and New England, wholesale prices are up more than 60%, and in the mid-Atlantic they're up 45%.

"Almost 1 in 3 households, or over 80 million Americans, are struggling to pay their utility bills," says Charles Hua, who runs Powerlines, a national energy consumer education nonprofit that encourages people to get more involved in their public utility commissions.

Why are costs going up? Hua points to three primary reasons: an aging power grid, the cost of natural disasters, and higher fuel costs, especially natural gas.

Kou says that for 2025, natural gas prices were the clear driver of increases. While oil and gasoline are cheap, natural gas — which is used for home heating and power plants — has gone up more than 50% from last year's annual average. U.S. exports of natural gas have increased (one of API's requests), and sending more natural gas overseas means less is available domestically.

Natural gas prices have been up and down over the past few years. They spiked in 2022, after Russia invaded Ukraine. And they were unusually cheap in 2024 before rising again in 2025. While they're far from record highs, the increase has been enough to significantly shift electricity markets.

These causes are complex and date back years before Trump's return to office. But experts say the Trump administration's electricity policy has not focused on lowering natural gas costs, improving the grid or mitigating the effects of natural disasters. Instead, it has aligned with his goal of reversing Biden-era climate policies. The White House has ordered coal-powered power plants to stay open for longer. Those power plants are typically expensive to operate, raising concerns about prices. Kou says keeping them online could hypothetically help meet rising demand, but only if those plants are located where demand is growing.

The administration is also investing in nuclear power — that, too, could potentially help with costs, but only in the long term, Kou says, because nuclear plants take so long to approve and build.

Some of the administration's moves could actually increase electricity bills in the future.

Large solar and wind projects provide more cost-competitive energy than natural gas, nuclear and coal projects, according to financial services firm Lazard. But the Trump administration has ended federal tax credits for solar and wind projects early, and canceled more than $13 billion in funds for green energy projects

Trump has also said he won't permit any new wind projects, and the administration has attempted to stop offshore wind projects that are already under construction, leading to court battles. That's been criticized not just by renewable energy advocates, but by many business groups, because it creates uncertainty and discourages investments in projects that could be supplying more energy into the grid.

"As a general matter, the thing that you can do that most clearly helps reduce prices is to remove barriers to new energy investment," says James Coleman, a nonresident senior fellow at the conservative American Enterprise Institute. "And the thing that basically just increases prices is increasing uncertainty or barriers to energy."

The administration is also rolling back efficiency standards for appliances. Those standards actually cut consumer bills by reducing energy use, Hua notes.

Meanwhile, some things that could meaningfully cut costs have simply not been prioritized by this administration. "There are solutions that are available today that can be put on the grid that would meaningfully resolve a lot of these solutions," Hua says, pointing to technologies that allow more power to be moved on the existing grid, or better match supply and demand. "It doesn't solve everything, but it provides some immediate relief … and that just has not been as much of a focus" for the Trump administration, he says.

Lately, President Trump has been talking about making sure that AI data centers pay their fair share for electricity costs. Hua says there is a genuine opportunity to cut energy bills for ordinary Americans as data center demand for electricity goes up, depending on how costs are spread out.

But for now, the Trump administration's pledge to cut utility bills remains an unmet promise.
NPR's Michael Copley and Julia Simon contributed to this report. 
Copyright 2026 NPR

The Los Angeles County fires last year drove up insurance costs for many Californians. Now, a proposed settlement means some State Farm policyholders whose premiums rose won’t see additional increases, and others should even get refunds.

State Farm, the largest insurer in the state with about 20% market share, received approval for unprecedented emergency insurance rate increases in California last May. The company told the state that the billions of dollars it expected to pay out after the deadly fires placed it in financial peril.

The proposed deal among the state Insurance Department, consumer advocacy group Consumer Watchdog and State Farm, disclosed late last week, comes after months of public hearings convened by the insurance department and settlement talks.

Consumer Watchdog, which questioned the rate increases State Farm asked for, says the settlement saves the company’s California policyholders a total of $530 million. From the proposed settlement:

• Homeowners’ rate hikes will stay at the previously approved interim rate of 17% instead of the 30% the company sought.
• Condo owners who saw interim rate hikes of 15% will see their rates drop to an increase of 5.8%, and get refunds with interest dating back to June 1, 2025.
• Rental unit owners with interim rate hikes of 38% will see those increases drop to 32.8%, and receive refunds with interest. 
• Renter policyholders will see an increase of 15.65% vs. the interim rate hike of 15%.

In addition, State Farm has agreed not to cancel any new policies this year, and it won’t be canceling some policies it had planned not to renew in wildfire-affected areas. The insurance department characterized those provisions as important to the continued stability of the state’s insurance market, which has been beset with availability and affordability issues.

“When consumer advocates are able to challenge the data and present their own analysis, excessive requests are reduced and consumers are protected,” said Harvey Rosenfield in a statement. Rosenfield founded Consumer Watchdog and wrote Proposition 103, the voter-approved law that governs insurance in California.

State Farm has paid out more than $5 billion in claims from the L.A.-area fires so far, said spokesperson Tom Hartmann.

After consumer complaints and lawsuits, the insurance department is investigating the company’s handling of claims from the fires and expects results from that examination later this spring.

The agreement, which must be approved by an administrative law judge, also requires State Farm to undergo additional review of its rates in 2027. The company will be required to make a one time 2.5% premium discount available to renewing policyholders if its ratio of premiums to available cash reaches a certain level; Consumer Watchdog litigation director Will Pletcher said the deal will give the group more timely access to the company’s annual financial statements to help keep it accountable.

The insurance department expects the judge to decide on the settlement by April 7. Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara will then review the judge’s decision and have the final say.

This article was originally published on CalMatters and was republished under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives license.

Iran's state media issued what it said was a statement by Iranian Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei, vowing to keep the Strait of Hormuz closed and keep up attacks on U.S. bases in the region, as the U.S.-Israeli war with Iran entered its 13th day.

It was purported to be the new leader's first statement since he succeeded his father Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who was killed in an Israeli strike on the first day of the war.

The statement said Iran will avenge the blood of its "martyrs," including the victims of a March 1 attack on a girls school in the city of Minab, which Iranian officials say killed at least 165 people, many of them children. NPR has confirmed the U.S. military is investigating how it could have targeted the school.

The Iranian statement said the Strait of Hormuz, a key shipping route for a fifth of the world's oil supply, should remain closed. It said Iran continues to believe in friendship with its neighbors but will continue targeting U.S. bases in the region.

"The lever of blocking the Strait of Hormuz must undoubtedly continue to be used.," the statement said, according to an English version published by Tasnim News Agency, run by the Iranian Revolutionary Guard.

It's unclear if the statement was from Mojtaba Khamenei himself. Another person was heard reading out the remarks on Iranian state media, with a photo of Khamenei posted on the TV screen, as it was broadcast around the world.

There's been speculation about the leader's current condition and whereabouts. An Israeli official, speaking on condition of anonymity because they weren't authorized to speak publicly, told NPR that Khamenei was lightly injured early in the war.

This is a developing story that will be updated.

Here are other major updates about the conflict.

To jump to specific areas of coverage, use the links below:

Attacks on vessels | Oil stockpiles | Strikes across the Gulf | Israel-Hezbollah escalation | Iranian school attack

Two oil tankers hit in Iraqi waters

Two oil tankers were hit in Iraqi territorial waters near the southern port area of Basra, Iraqi officials said Thursday. It is the first oil-related strike reported in Iraq's waters during more than a week of war, in another sign of the conflict's escalation.

Iran, a critical ally of Iraq, took responsibility for attacking one of the tankers, which it said was owned by the U.S.

A port official said the attack targeted vessels near Basra's port approaches, and Iraq's security spokesman described it as sabotage.

Iraqi officials said one person was killed, and 38 crew members were rescued, with search operations continuing.

Iran has stepped up attacks on energy infrastructure and commercial shipping in response to U.S. and Israeli strikes, warning that the world should brace for oil prices to double.

— Jane Arraf

U.S. and allies to release record oil stockpiles  

The U.S. confirmed it will release 172 million barrels of oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve as part of a coordinated International Energy Agency (IEA) release of 400 million barrels from emergency stockpiles.

The U.S. contribution amounts to roughly 40% of the total, to be released gradually over about four months.

The IEA's executive director, Fatih Birol, said the goal is to keep the supply of oil flowing as the conflict disrupts shipping routes and energy infrastructure. But analysts warn stockpile releases can only partially offset prolonged disruption in the Gulf, where roughly a fifth of global oil consumption normally transits the Strait of Hormuz.

On Wednesday, President Trump said the price spike is temporary and said the reserve release would push prices down.

According to the popular app Gas Buddy, the current average cost of regular unleaded is now up to $3.61 a gallon.

- Camila Domonoske

Iran continues attacks on Gulf States

Countries in the Gulf reported new incoming threats and interceptions Thursday, as Iran continued firing drones and missiles across the region – including at U.S. military bases.

The UAE's defense ministry said air defenses were responding to Iranian missile and drone attacks, and that sounds heard in parts of the country were from intercepts.

Kuwait's defense ministry said its air defenses intercepted ballistic missiles and drones that penetrated the northern and southern parts of the country's airspace.

Saudi Arabia said it intercepted and destroyed drones headed toward the Shaybah oil field.

The United Nations Security Council adopted a resolution on Wednesday condemning Iran for recent attacks across the Persian Gulf region, calling them a "breach of international law" and "a serious threat to international peace and security."

- Rebecca Rosman

Israel launches large strikes on Hezbollah sites in Beirut after rocket fire into Israel

People inspect homes damaged by a projectile launched from Lebanon, in Haniel central Israel, on Thursday.

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Baz Ratner

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AP

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The militant group Hezbollah launched its biggest rocket attack against Israel since the start of the war with Iran. The Israeli military said the Iranian-backed group fired heavy volleys toward northern Israel overnight into Thursday, triggering interceptions and sending residents repeatedly into shelters.

The Israeli military responded by launching more attacks against what it said were Hezbollah launch sites and command infrastructure.

Huge booms were heard across the capital and large black smoke billowed from the Dahieh neighborhood in south Beirut, while an attack in central Beirut – where thousands of people are displaced – killed 8 people and injured 31, according to Lebanese officials.

Wide evacuation orders for south Lebanon and Beirut's southern suburbs have displaced at least 800,000 people so far, according to the Lebanese government.

Lebanon, which does not have diplomatic ties with Israel, has unusually called for direct talks with Israel to end the escalating fighting with Hezbollah. Israel has not officially responded.

Israeli strikes on Iran have continued, with Iran firing missiles at Israel intermittently, including overnight.

Israeli military officials say about half of the missiles Iran has launched at Israel have carried cluster warheads, which spread out into smaller bombs over a wider area – increasing the risk to civilians.

- Daniel Estrin, Hadeel Al-Shalchi and Rebecca Rosman

Pentagon: Preliminary assessment suggests U.S. likely responsible for strike on Iranian school

The Pentagon has opened a formal investigation into the missile strike on an Iranian girls school that killed at least 165 civilians, many of them children, after a preliminary assessment suggested the U.S. was at fault, according to a U.S. official who was not authorized to speak publicly. The investigation is expected to take months and will include interviews with all those involved, from planners and commanders to those who carried out the strike.

If a U.S. role in the attack is confirmed, it would rank among the military's most deadly incidents involving civilians in decades. Congress created a special Pentagon office to prevent the accidental targeting of civilians but it was dramatically scaled back by Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth soon after he took office last year.

"This investigation is ongoing. As we have said, unlike the terrorist Iranian regime, the United States does not target civilians," said White House spokesperson Anna Kelly.

The Pentagon did not respond to a request for comment.

NPR previously reported — based on commercial satellite imagery and independent expert analysis — that the strike was more extensive than initially reported and appeared consistent with a precision strike on a nearby military complex, raising questions about whether outdated targeting information contributed to the tragedy.

- Tom Bowman, Kat Lonsdorf, Geoff Brumfiel

Rebecca Rosman contributed to this report from Paris, Jane Arraf from Erbil, Iraq, Hadeel Al-Shalchi from Beirut, Daniel Estrin from Tel Aviv and Camila Domonoske, Tom Bowman, Kat Lonsdorf and Geoff Brumfiel from Washington.
Copyright 2026 NPR

The story first appeared on The LA Local.

If you’re a soccer fan — or just a fan of South Korean phenom Son Heung-min — you may have heard that the Los Angeles Football Club planned to put up a larger-than-life mural of the footballer in Koreatown last month. But the mural has yet to appear. 

LAFC planned to reveal the mural during the launch of their 2026/2027 jersey at The LINE Hotel. Now the reveal has been pushed back to sometime in June. 

The delay stems from issues with the city’s mural approval process, at least according to city officials. 

Gabriel Cifarelli, a spokesperson for the Los Angeles Department of Cultural Affairs, said they received a mural registration application for the site. But the department said it could not issue a notice to proceed because the application was “ineligible and incomplete” under the city’s mural ordinance and administrative rules.

“DCA staff offered the applicant advice and further guidance, and remains available for questions,” Cifarelli said. 

If a mural includes a team logo it is considered an advertisement and not original artwork, according to the city department. In that case, the permit must be issued through the city’s Building and Safety Department.

A new application has not been submitted through the mural program, Cifarelli said, and it was not immediately clear whether LAFC applied for a permit through the Building and Safety Department. 

LAFC spokesperson Danny Sanchez didn’t confirm if a new permit has been submitted.

“The mural unveil was rescheduled to June to better align with World Cup festivities,” Sanchez said. 

Dave Young Kim was commissioned to paint the mural and previously painted a Son mural on the side of the Crosby building in Koreatown in October, but that was only up for a few weeks.

He still plans to paint the mural on The LINE Hotel in June.

“I’m assuming at this point, LAFC is likely trying to line it up for a more opportune time,” said Kim. “The mural was originally supposed to line up with the launch of the new jersey so something similar.”

Leo Hernandez, 35, said he hopes the mural goes up before the World Cup.

“I didn’t know it was pushed back all the way to June,” he said. “I’ll be in Mexico for the World Cup.”

Hernandez, who goes by “El Soccer Guy” on Instagram and has nearly 50,000 followers, has been attending LAFC games since 2018. He said Son’s arrival to L.A. has brought a new wave of fans to the club.

“I’ve never seen so many Koreans,” he said. “He’s bringing a whole new community to LAFC. I don’t know if they love soccer or they love Son or both, but it’s amazing to see.”

“Son is starting to be my favorite on the team,” he added. “He’s so good. He wants the team to shine. And I love his positivity and energy.” 

The Marvel Cinematic Universe is all about people with superpowers living in a world very much like our own.

And there’s a lot of real Los Angeles mixed into the recent MCU series “Wonder Man,” now on Disney+, which makes for a version of the MCU that feels a little more grounded in reality, especially for Angelenos.

It's an action-comedy about two struggling actors also dealing with superhuman forces and secret government agencies. Think The Studio meets Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.

Sir Ben Kingsley reprises his Iron Man 3 character Trevor Slattery, the messy British actor hired to play a bad guy called The Mandarin. And Yahya Abdul-Mateen II plays Simon Williams, aka Wonder Man.

Through their adventures trying to book the gig-of-a-lifetime while surviving the perils of the MCU, L.A. landmarks and cultural references abound, and ground the series in a relatability for many Angelenos, including lots of inside jokes for those working in the entertainment industry.

3 cultural references that make Wonder Man feel like real Los Angeles

Historic places, some we’ve had to part with

There’s a series of roughly 100-year-old small, independent movie houses used as locations in Wonder Man — the Eagle Theatre now home to Vidiots, Westwood's Village Theater now operated by American Cinematheque (with views of The Bruin Theater across the street), and the Highland Theatre which closed in 2024.

A scene from 'Wonder Man' on Disney +.

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Marvel Television

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Speaking of iconic L.A. spots breaking local hearts, the vintage bar within Echo Park’s Taix French Restaurant was used as an interior location for the series. Taix is closing at the end of the month to make way for new development.

“Taix, the Highland Park Theatre — these places that it was only three years ago were there,” Wonder Man showrunner Andrew Guest told LAist, “a lot of these establishments sadly, are not surviving. And this town is in a rough, rough place.”

(Though actor/director Kristen Stewart recently said in an interview with Architectural Digest that she bought The Highland Theatre and is restoring the building.)

L.A. traffic (especially around the Hollywood Bowl on a performance night)

Traffic is part of life in Los Angeles and with so many scenes shot in Hollywood, even the main characters of Wonder Man must experience that bumper-to-bumper frustration.

Though, because it is a TV show, they were able to indulge in the fantasy of beating that traffic in a way that in reality would be highly dangerous (and illegal).

“We got to shut down Sunset Boulevard for a little while to shoot a car going onto the sidewalk in front of the Palladium,” said Guest. And surprisingly, he explained, they didn’t have to shoot in the middle of the night to make the shot happen: “That was Friday night…. We didn't close all lanes of traffic. The street was open. We were shooting while Los Angeles was still going strong.”

The scene also references the frequent traffic back up during big shows at the Hollywood Bowl, even earning the show a social media repost of the scene from Chaka Khan.

Having family and friends 45 minutes away, who you rarely visit

Wonder Man includes an episode titled Pacoima where the main character visits his family and childhood home.

“My wife grew up in Chatsworth, and one of the things I found fascinating about her experience growing up there was that many of her friends and their families never went to Los Angeles,” said Guest.

“The idea that Simon grew up close to, but far enough away that Hollywood and Los Angeles did not feel like they were part of his life…so when he moved to the city, Pacoima is not a place he goes to a lot. And I feel like that's a part of L.A. that is true to this city. That doesn't get explored a lot and felt like it was another detail that we got to sort of throw into the show.”

There’s lots of other Southern California. references to enjoy from the Talmadge Apartments, an historic renaissance revival building on Wilshire Blvd., a mural of Danny Trejo, and even a cameo from Gisellle Fernandes, real-life L.A. broadcaster for Spectrum 1 News.

Should you get lost in the multi-verse, at least this L.A will be pretty familiar.

BONUS: Could there be a Season 2 of Wonder Man? And would it still be set in L.A.?

Guest couldn’t confirm anything about a possible Season 2, but told LAist, “It’s still on the table as an option, potentially."

As for whether a potential Season 2 would also film in Los Angeles and continue to highlight the city in new ways, Guest said it’s occurred to him that one of the best ways to write about Hollywood could be “ to send our show somewhere else because everybody in this town who's working has to move — whether it be Budapest or London or Ireland or Vancouver — very little is actually happening in this town. And that’s a story that I don’t think is being told right now about L.A.”

Season 1 of ‘Wonder Man’ is now streaming on Disney+.

Watch Julia Paskin's interview with actor/comedian X Mayo, who plays Simon Williams' agent in 'Wonder Man':