{"id":48143,"date":"2026-05-09T13:11:15","date_gmt":"2026-05-09T20:11:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/?p=48143"},"modified":"2026-05-09T13:11:16","modified_gmt":"2026-05-09T20:11:16","slug":"platner-calls-to-take-back-american-power-with-rate-freeze-national-infrastructure-fund-in-energy-plan","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/2026\/05\/09\/platner-calls-to-take-back-american-power-with-rate-freeze-national-infrastructure-fund-in-energy-plan\/","title":{"rendered":"Platner Calls to \u2018Take Back American Power\u2019 With Rate Freeze, National Infrastructure Fund in Energy Plan"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"Democratic<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

US Senate candidate from Maine Graham Platner speaks during a campaign event on May 2, 2026 in Appleton, Maine. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

(Photo by Graeme Sloan\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt is long past time to hearken back to the legacy of the New Deal, to unlock American ingenuity and work ethic to rise to our energy challenges.\u201d<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Julia Conley<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

May 08, 2026 (CommonDreams.org)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In his energy policy unveiled Friday, Democratic US Senate<\/a> candidate Graham Platner in Maine<\/a> emphasized that political choices over the last several decades undid the robust New Deal-era framework that helped keep household bills down and financed electricity across his state and the country\u2014and that lawmakers can and must shift their priorities in order to help working families afford energy once again.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhat was done by political choice can be undone by political choice,\u201d said Platner in the plan. \u201cIf we approach our energy challenges with the resources currently reserved for the Pentagon<\/a> and for billionaire tax breaks, we can meet our energy needs.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

RECOMMENDED…<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Operational<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Trump \u2018Extrajudicially\u2019 Blocks All New US Wind Projects\u2014Which Could Power 15M Homes Amid Energy Crisis<\/a><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"'Charade<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\u2018Charade Is Over\u2019: New Platner Ad Takes Aim at Collins\u2019 \u2018Symbolic Opposition\u2019 to Trump Agenda<\/a><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The oyster farmer and combat veteran, a political newcomer who is the presumptive Democratic nominee and is running to unseat five-term Sen. Susan Collins<\/a> (R-Maine), unveiled a plan under which the US can \u201cTake Back American Power\u201d by replacing \u201cregressive gas and diesel taxes\u201d with his billionaire wealth tax proposal<\/a>, introduced last month; take aim at Big Oil<\/a> windfall profits; and prioritize clean energy development instead of \u201coverpriced, dead-end Pentagon pet projects.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The plan is divided into four sections, with the first focusing on slashing energy prices for households across the country and in Maine\u2014where the average family paid $900 more this past winter compared to the previous year to heat and light their home and power their car.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While the federal gas tax is meant to fund the Highway Trust Fund for infrastructure<\/a> projects, Platner noted that $275 billion general fund have been needed to supplement the trust fund since 2008. Instead of funding projects with taxes that \u201chit working-class Mainers that hardest,\u201d said Platner, \u201cpublic goods should be financed by progressive, general revenues\u201d like his proposed<\/a> 5% tax on wealth over $1 billion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He expressed support for the Big Oil Windfall Profits Tax Act<\/a>, introduced by Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse<\/a> (D-RI) and Rep. Ro Khanna<\/a> (D-Calif.), with a national fund to lower or freeze electricity rates supported by a per-barrel tax equal to 50% of the price difference between current oil<\/a> prices and those from last year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe can cut Wall Street<\/a> speculators out of the equation, build at scale with union jobs, and lower costs for everyone.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A rate freeze would also be funded by \u201crepurposed federal fossil fuel subsidies and federal energy leases… so that states can support utilities making long-overdue upgrades that create a stronger, better-utilized, and cleaner grid that lowers power bills.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The second section of the plan focuses on funding clean energy projects and replacing the model of \u201cfinancing energy investments with expensive private equity and high-yield debt\u201d with a National Energy Infrastructure Fund. The fund would issue debt backed by the federal government, working with state agencies to provide \u201ccheap capital directly to utilities, rural electric co-operatives, public energy authorities, and other developers of low-risk clean energy projects.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Combined with permitting reform for clean energy projects, the National Energy Infrastructure Fund would allow for an efficient build-out of transmission lines and offshore wind projects while passing tens of billions of dollars in savings on to ratepayers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe can cut Wall Street speculators out of the equation, build at scale with union jobs, and lower costs for everyone,\u201d said Platner.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Senate candidate also proposed strategic fuel reserves for fisheries and farms, modeled on a reserve<\/a> that hold approximately 1 billion barrels of oil for households across the Northeast in case of a fuel disruption.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Releases from a marine fuel reserve would \u201cbe triggered by verified price spikes during fishing seasons,\u201d while the stock for farmers, who bear \u201cthe brunt of our energy crisis,\u201d would be used to insulate the nation\u2019s food supply \u201cfrom price shocks, particularly those caused by arbitrary wars.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The policy proposal was released as President Donald Trump<\/a> issued his latest violent threat against Iran despite a ceasefire that was reached a month ago in the war the US and Israel started in late February. The average gas price is now above<\/a> $4.50 per gallon, while 70% of US farmers told<\/a> the American Farm Bureau Federation last month that the price of fertilizer has gotten so high due to Iran\u2019s closing of the Strait of Hormuz in retaliation for the attacks, that they will not be able to afford all they need for the 2026 planting season.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Platner has taken aim<\/a> at Collins for her votes against war powers resolutions that would give Congress a check on Trump\u2019s authority to attack Iran.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMainers can no longer afford Susan Collins, her party, or the crony capitalism<\/a> that has handed over our essential public infrastructure to oil companies, private equity, and foreign-owned utilities,\u201d said Platner. \u201cThe solutions are straightforward. They simply require the political will: to end Big Oil\u2019s stranglehold on our energy policy, to slash prices for consumers, and to build the energy of the future.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Democrat\u2019s energy plan also calls for a National Whole Home Repair Program, modeled on a Pennsylvania<\/a> initiative and scaled to the federal level. The program would partner \u201cwith public housing authorities, county-level programs, and local building and construction trades unions<\/a> to cover the full range of work that would bring old housing into the present.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWeatherization, electrification, and heat pumps can lower bills by thousands of dollars a year,\u201d reads the plan. \u201cThe technology<\/a> exists. The skilled trades exist. What does not exist, for most Mainers, is the upfront capital.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It concludes that \u201cit is long past time to hearken back to the legacy of the New Deal, to unlock American ingenuity and work ethic to rise to our energy challenges.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Julia Conley<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Julia Conley is a senior editor and staff writer for Common Dreams.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Full Bio ><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

US Senate candidate from Maine Graham Platner speaks during a campaign event on May 2, 2026 in Appleton, Maine.  (Photo by Graeme Sloan\/Getty Images) \u201cIt is long past time to hearken back to the legacy of the New Deal, to unlock American ingenuity and work ethic to rise to our… Continue reading → <\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48143"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=48143"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48143\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":48144,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48143\/revisions\/48144"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=48143"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=48143"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=48143"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}