This Month’s Action:

BACKGROUND: Before the Iran war, energy costs in the U.S. were already very high. In 2025, electric bills increased by 13%, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. But since the beginning of the Iran war, the average price of a gallon of gas has increased by over 50%. And gas companies are raking in extraordinarily large profits!  

Under a bill introduced in the Senate by Senator Sheldon Whitehouse and in the House by Rep. Ro Khanna, the Big Oil Windfall Profits Tax Act, large U.S. oil companies would pay an excise tax on each barrel of oil they produce or import equal to 50% of the difference between the average crude oil price in a given quarter and the 2025 average price per barrel.  The tax would apply only to companies that produce or import 300,000 or more barrels of oil per day. Smaller companies accounting for roughly 70 percent of the domestic production will be exempt, so oil giants like Exxon Mobil and Chevron cannot gouge consumers further without the risk of losing market share.  

The money raised by the excise tax would be returned directly to U.S. consumers as a quarterly rebate. It will mainly benefit lower-income earners. The rebate would phase out for single income tax filers who earn more than $75,000 in annual income and joint filers who earn more than $150,000.

“We should send any big windfall for Big Oil back to the hardworking people who paid for it at the gas pump,” said Senator Whitehouse.  This would discourage companies from artificially inflating gas prices and stop further enriching the biggest oil and gas corporations, their wealthy shareholders, and billionaire CEOs.