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Oil and Gas Exec Wright Confirmed to Lead DOE

By Darrell Proctor

The U.S. Senate in a 59-38 vote has confirmed Colorado-based oil and gas executive Chris Wright as secretary of the Dept. of Energy (DOE).

Seven Democrats, including both Michael Bennet and John Hickenlooper from Wright’s home state, crossed party lines and voted with Republicans on Feb. 3 to confirm Wright. Angus King, the independent from Maine, also supported Wright, who was nominated by Donald Trump for the post just days after Trump’s election to a second term as president in November of last year.

Wright, age 60, is the CEO of Denver-based Liberty Energy, an oilfield services company. He has said he will now step down from that position. During his confirmation hearing last month he acknowledged that climate change is happening, after in the past refusing to say whether he believes climate change has a connection to extreme weather. During the hearing he called climate change “a global issue, it is a real issue, it is a challenging issue.” He has said there are trade-offs between climate concerns and the need to increase U.S. energy production.

The new Energy Secretary said he would emphasize the roles of commercial nuclear energy, liquefied natural gas, and geothermal power generation as part of the expansion of domestic energy production.

Chris Wright

“He’s a scientist who has invested his life around energy. He is indeed an unrestrained enthusiast for fossil fuels in almost every regard, but he studied nuclear,” Hickenlooper said. “His first years of working were in solar. He has experience in wind.”

Wright during his Senate confirmation hearing said, “I see three immediate tasks where I will focus my attention if I get the privilege of being confirmed. The first is to unleash American energy at home and abroad to restore our energy dominance. Second, we must lead the world in innovation and technology breakthroughs. Third, we must build things in America again and remove barriers to progress. Federal policies today make it too easy to stop projects and very hard, hard to start and complete projects.”

Wright in last month’s hearing said the recent wildfires in the Los Angeles, California area were “heartbreaking,” but said he still stands by comments he made in 2023 that “hype over wildfires is just hype to justify” policies meant to mitigate climate change.

The DOE, with a budget of about $50 billion, oversees the nation’s research of energy technology, including thermal and renewable power generation. The agency also is in charge of the loans and grants programs for energy projects, and the nation’s arsenal of nuclear weapons. It also oversees 17 national labs conducting energy and other research.

Groups Offer Congratulations

The American Clean Power Association (ACP) emailed a statement to POWER from Jason Grumet, the group’s CEO. Grumet said, “The American Clean Power Association congratulates Chris Wright on taking the helm at the U.S. Department of Energy. We look forward to partnering to advance DOE’s essential role in driving innovation, ensuring energy security, and advancing clean energy solutions. ACP is committed to working with Secretary Wright to address and meet our nation’s rapidly growing electricity demand.”

Pat Vincent-Collwan, interim president and CEO of Edison Electric Institute (EEI), the group that represents U.S. investor-owned electric utilities, in an email to POWER said: “EEI and our member electric companies congratulate U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright on his Senate confirmation and look forward to working with him, his team at the Department of Energy, and the Trump administration to meet today’s rapidly growing energy needs, reliably and affordably.

“Demand for electricity is growing at the fastest pace in decades, and America’s investor-owned electric companies are making significant investments to expand generation capacity and to enhance, strengthen, and secure the energy grid. We applaud Secretary Wright’s commitment to secure America”s energy future and to drive innovation and technology breakthroughs.”

Vincent-Collawn added, “At the same time, we continue to face evolving cyber and physical security risk and severe weather events that threaten the grid. It is essential that industry and government continue to partner through the CEO-led Electricity Subsector Coordinating Council (ESCC) to prepare for, and respond to, national-level incidents that could impact electricity customers. We look forward to working with Secretary Wright and his team to build on the extraordinary ESCC partnership and to advance policies that will help to deliver an energy grid that is reliable, weather-resilient, responsive, and ready for the demand arriving now.”

National Rural Electric Cooperative Association CEO Jim Matheson in a statement said, “Chris Wright’s extensive experience and leadership in the energy industry make him well-suited to lead DOE and address the many challenges and opportunities facing the nation, particularly the skyrocketing demand for power.” Matheson, who leads the trade association that represents about 900 local U.S. electric cooperatives, added, “Now more than ever, America’s economic growth and national security depend on reliable, abundant, and affordable electricity. We look forward to working with Mr. Wright to prioritize programs that help keep the lights on for families and businesses across America. We also look forward to working with Mr. Wright and DOE to make effective and efficient use of the remaining infrastructure funding appropriated by Congress that supports investments in electric infrastructure and helps co-ops harden their systems.”

Donations to Trump Campaign

Wright has been a supporter of President Trump, and made contributions of $175,000 and $53,990 to the Trump 47 joint fundraising committee, which has allocated funds to the Trump campaign, along with the Republican National Committee and other political groups.

Trump earlier said that Wright, in addition to his role as energy secretary, would serve on the newly formed Council of National Energy being led by Doug Burgum, the newly confirmed Secretary of the Interior. Trump has said the group would focus on cutting regulations and increasing investments to ramp up oil and gas production. The U.S. has led the world in oil and gas production each year since 2018, and has reached record levels of output during the Biden administration, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.

Wright, well-known in the U.S. oil and gas community and a previous speaker at LDC Gas Forums events—a group that is part of Access Intelligence, the parent of POWER—has a degree in mechanical engineering from Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). He also completed graduate work in electrical engineering at University of California-Berkeley and MIT.

Wright immediately replaces Ingrid Kolb, who has been serving as acting secretary the past two weeks after Trump took office. Kolb had served in various federal government roles since 2005. Jennifer Granholm, a former governor of Michigan and a renewable and nuclear energy proponent, was head of the DOE under President Biden for the past four years.

Darrell Proctor is a senior editor for POWER.