President-elect Donald Trump’s nominee to lead the Department of Energy said the most urgent energy problem facing the United States is an aging electrical grid badly in need of revitalization.
Business executive Chris Wright was questioned before the Senate Energy and Natural Committee, chaired by Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, who opened the Wednesday hearing with harsh criticism for President Joe Biden’s energy policies.
“Over the past four years, (this) administration has dismantled domestic energy production, canceled leases, and weaponized regulations to discourage investment in pipelines and critical energy infrastructure. Instead of unleashing American energy, this administration has instead decided to reduce our access to energy,” Lee said. “These failures have caused devastating harm.”
Wright, who appeared before senators on his 60th birthday, has a long background in energy, including solar and being involved in a company that is partnering with the Idaho National Laboratory to recovering spent nuclear fuel to power up advanced fission technology that can be used in off grid or remote locations to generate power with the Oklo Aurora.
“This has an historic opportunity to secure our energy systems, deliver leadership in scientific and technological innovation, steward our weapons stockpiles and meet Cold War legacy waste commitments. I call myself a science geek turned tech nerd turned lifelong energy entrepreneur. My fascination with energy started at a young age in Denver,” Wright said.
He added the company he’s led as chief executive officer has been involved in a vast array of energy technologies.
“Liberty works directly in oil, natural gas, next generation geothermal and has partnerships in next generation nuclear energy and new battery technology. Energy has been a lifelong passion of mine.”
Wright’s biography includes completion of an undergraduate degree in mechanical engineering at MIT and graduate work in electrical engineering at both UC Berkeley and MIT.
“Energy is the essential agent of change that enables everything that we do. A low energy society is poor. A highly energized society can bring health, wealth and opportunity for all.”
To do that, the United States must update its grid to meet growing demand, he said.
In his introductory remarks, Wright emphasized his primary goals.
“I will work tirelessly to implement (Trump’s) bold agenda as an unabashed steward for all sources of affordable, reliable and secure American energy, I see three immediate tasks where I’ll 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, the security of our nation, begins with energy. Previous administrations have viewed energy as a liability, instead of the immense national asset to compete globally. We must expand energy production, including commercial nuclear and liquefied natural gas, and cut the cost of energy for Americans.”
Wright said he will also protect and enhance the innovation and research being carried out by the nation’s 17 DOE laboratories
“Our labs have been pioneers in energy innovation across the spectrum. It is very important for me is to keep the labs focused and energized to work on science, basic fundamental science, but also science that will someday, and maybe someday soon, have applications to energy. Our labs have a proud track record there, and I want to champion that.”
And, he emphasized: “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. This makes energy more expensive and less reliable.”
Sen. James Risch, R-Idaho, said it is paramount to keep attention focused on the nation’s laboratories, pointing to the work done by Idaho National Laboratory.
“INL is very important. It is the cog in the wheel of nuclear energy.”
Newly-elected Sen. Jim Justice, West Virginia’s former governor and whose business enterprise includes coal mines, wanted a commitment out of Wright about his take on the place of fossil fuels in the energy sector.
“Energy is everything, everything. If we think less than that, we are thinking absolutely wrong. At the end of the day, every country of the world, the more energy they have, the healthier they are, the longer they live,” Justice said. “Energy is every single everything. It’s the key to inflation. It’s the key to our defense. It’s the dollars that fund the Russian war with Ukraine. It is every single thing, and absolutely we have to solve this. We have to have a real energy strategy, and we’ve got to solve this.”
Justice emphasized that fossil fuels have to be part of the solution.
“Now listen, being from West Virginia, you may think you know that all we can think about is one thing and one thing alone. I would tell you just this: We need to embrace all the energy forms,” Justice continued. But with that being said, the moment in time when you absolutely believe that we can do without fossil fuels in this world today, you’re living in a cave. You’re absolutely living in a cave. In my opinion, we don’t need to blow our legs off so China or India can dominate in so many different ways.”
Wright replied: “We want energy from all sources we can that can add to our pile of affordable, reliable, secure American energy.”
Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto, D-Nevada, wanted Wright’s commitment not to reconsider Yucca Mountain as a depository for spent nuclear waste — which he agreed did not have community buy-in and is unworkable.
She also said she was disappointed that when he was speaking about the types of energy sources, he omitted solar.
“Solar is the No. 1 energy for us in Nevada. It created jobs. It’s growing our economy, and it has major impact,” she said. “I’m just going to say the conversation we’re going to have and continue to have around energy is important, and it should be balanced, and is not just focused on fossil fuels.”
Wright said if he failed to mention solar as an energy source, it was an oversight.
“I worked in solar energy. You have tremendous resources for that in Nevada, and we’re seeing a lot of growth in solar energy, and I expect that to continue.”