Chris Wright

In office

On November 10, 2026, the U.S. Department of Energy closed a $480 million loan to Elkhorn Offshore, a subsidiary of Texas-based Arena Energy, to refurbish and repower 22 aging oil and gas platforms in the Southern Eugene Island area off Louisiana. It is the first loan the department's Office of Energy Dominance Financing has closed for domestic oil and gas production.

Updated 5 hours ago

Says the stalled Russian diesel cargo will sell in another port and that the U.S. wants the fuel in global markets

The first Russian diesel cargo sent to the United States under President Donald Trump's deal with Vladimir Putin has stalled off the East Coast, and no tanker has unloaded at an American port. The Malta-flagged Agioi Fanendes, carrying 40,000 metric tons, stopped off the coast on Nov. 10 after New Jersey Governor Mikie Sherrill and lawmakers warned that accepting the fuel could bring legal penalties.

Updated 7 hours ago

Said on Sept 16 the East-West pipeline should restart within days; the line later resumed and was reported carrying 5.8 million bpd in recent weeks, though Houthi claims of new strikes on its pumping stations on Oct 26 were unconfirmed

Saudi air defenses intercepted missiles aimed at Riyadh and the Eastern Province on Nov. 8. Falling debris damaged an Aramco administrative building in the capital's King Abdullah Financial District, with minor damage and no casualties, the Energy Ministry said.

Updated 3 days ago

Holds implementing authority under EO 14421

President Trump's Executive Order 14421, signed August 26, declares a national emergency over foreign-made power grid equipment. It blocks transactions involving gear from entities in 24 countries under U.S. arms embargoes or sanctions unless the Energy Department approves, and it lets the Energy Secretary order utilities to isolate or replace foreign-made equipment already in service.

Updated 4 days ago

Signed the helium critical material designation

The Energy Department designated helium a critical material on October 23, a step that opens federal financing to domestic producers and puts supply under closer government watch. It lands in what consultant Phil Kornbluth calls "shortage 5.0," the fifth helium crunch in recent memory.

Updated Oct 28

Leading nuclear energy expansion

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission finalized a rule on October 22 that lets reactor applicants reuse analyses and test data from projects already authorized by the Energy or Defense departments. The agency targets about 18 months for a first-of-a-kind review and 12 months for later applications.

Updated Oct 23

Overseeing the last 40-million-barrel tranche and a hurricane-related exchange

The Strategic Petroleum Reserve held 282.7 million barrels on October 16, the lowest since 1982 and 30.8 percent below a year earlier, according to Energy Information Administration data. It has lost about a third of its volume since the March release began.

Updated Oct 22

As of October 2026: Approved the grant scope change; visited Middletown Works August 2026

The Department of Energy redirected a $500 million clean-steel grant into a coal blast furnace upgrade at Cleveland-Cliffs' Middletown Works in Ohio. The move drops a hydrogen-ready steelmaking plan that would have cut annual emissions by roughly a million tons.

Updated Oct 8

As of October 2026: Supported the repeal, citing reliability needs

The Environmental Protection Agency finalized a rule in September that wipes out most Biden-era limits on climate pollution from coal and gas plants. The rule takes effect November 16, and EPA projects $310 billion in savings without explaining how it derived that estimate.

Updated Oct 5

As of September 2026: Still issuing coal emergency orders after losing a court challenge

Coal-fired electricity generation fell 11% in the first half of 2026, per the Financial Times, even as the Trump administration issued more than 20 emergency orders to keep aging plants running. In September a federal appeals court struck down the order keeping Michigan's Campbell plant open, ruling the Department of Energy overstepped its authority; days later the agency ordered plants in Indiana and Washington state to stay running.

Updated Sep 29

As of September 2026: Leading DOE's push to speed grid upgrades over new construction

America's transmission grid is aging, and new power lines can take a decade to permit. On Sept. 24, the Department of Energy picked a faster route: 31 projects that upgrade existing lines, backed by $1.9 billion in federal money.

Updated Sep 25

As of September 2026: Says Saudi East-West Pipeline should restart 'very soon'

Gasoline averaged $4.44 a gallon on Sept. 17, up 39% from a year ago; diesel hit a record $6.40, up 73%. President Donald Trump said he hoped an end to the war against Iran was near, even as Houthi fighters escalated attacks on Saudi Arabia.

Updated Sep 17

As of September 2026: Head of DOE while the order was issued and defended

A federal appeals court canceled the Department of Energy's order forcing an aging Michigan coal plant to keep running. The unanimous decision said the agency used an emergency power meant for short-term crises to override a retirement plan approved by the plant's owner, Michigan regulators, and the regional grid operator.

Updated Sep 14

As of September 2026: Defended October 2025 grant terminations

LuxWall's Detroit glass factory was on track to open in late 2026. In October 2025, the Department of Energy terminated the $31.7 million federal grant behind it. Nine months of appeals and political pressure later, the agency confirmed it will keep funding the project under a negotiated cost-share agreement.

Updated Sep 10

As of August 2026: Overseeing the reactor pilot program

On June 4, 2026, Antares Nuclear's Mark-0 reactor at an Idaho desert lab started a self-sustaining nuclear reaction. It was the first privately built non-light-water reactor to do that in the U.S. in more than 40 years, and four rival startups matched the feat within nine weeks.

Updated Aug 8

As of July 2026: Backing the Paducah project as part of a federal land program

A coalition led by Brookfield and NextEra Energy is turning part of the former Paducah uranium plant into an AI computing campus with its own gas plants and batteries. The Department of Energy signed a lease for about 785 acres at the site in July 2026, and the campus is slated for full build-out by 2032.

Updated Jul 29

As of July 2026: In office since February 2025

Seventy percent of America's power lines and transformers are over 25 years old. On June 30, 2026, Secretary Wright issued two emergency orders for the Mid-Atlantic grid after PJM Interconnection forecast demand near 166,000 megawatts—approaching the region's all-time record.

Updated Jul 3

As of June 2026: Directed FERC to start the rulemaking

For decades, the cost of upgrading the power grid was spread across everyone's electric bill. On June 18, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) acted on a rule that could put much of that cost on the data centers that trigger it.

Updated Jun 18

As of May 2026: Visited Venezuela in February 2026 to set up the removal

About 13.5 kilograms of bomb-grade uranium sat in a shuttered Venezuelan research reactor for 35 years. This week the US flew it to a processing site in South Carolina, less than six weeks after inspectors first walked the floor.

Updated May 31

As of May 2026: DOE awarded $2.7B for domestic uranium enrichment in early 2026; agency declared nuclear executive order implementation 'in full swing' by May 2026

On March 4, 2026, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission approved a construction permit for TerraPower's Natrium reactor at Kemmerer, Wyoming—the first permit for a commercial non-light-water reactor in more than 40 years. TerraPower broke ground on April 23 with Bechtel as general contractor, making Kemmerer the first utility-scale advanced nuclear plant under active construction in the US.

Updated May 31

As of May 2026: Driving expanded use of Section 202(c) emergency authority

Between 1977 and 2000, the Energy Secretary used Section 202(c) of the Federal Power Act exactly zero times; since May 2025, it has been invoked more than 40 times. On May 22, Secretary Chris Wright added another, directing Talen Energy to run a 54-year-old oil-fired unit outside Baltimore beyond its environmental run cap from now through August 19.

Updated May 22

As of May 2026: In office since February 2025

The United States performed less than 1% of global uranium enrichment when the Department of Energy announced $2.7 billion in contracts to three companies on January 21, 2026. Russia controls 44% of global enrichment capacity and supplied roughly a quarter of American reactor fuel until Congress banned imports in 2024. The last U.S.-owned enrichment facility shut down in 2013.

Updated May 22

As of May 2026: Leading administration efforts to accelerate data center grid connections

For decades, American households paid roughly the same share of electricity costs regardless of which industries were expanding. AI data centers have broken that arrangement.

Updated May 20

As of May 2026: Leading Genesis Mission implementation

The White House mobilized America's 17 national laboratories and major tech companies—OpenAI, Anthropic, Google, Microsoft, NVIDIA. The Genesis Mission aims to double US research productivity in a decade by connecting supercomputers, quantum systems, and AI into one discovery platform. Energy Secretary Chris Wright announced 24 corporate partners at a January 11 summit.

Updated May 20

As of May 2026: Cancelled an Israel visit amid the deal’s October 2025 stall

A day after Israel approved the Leviathan-to-Egypt export permit, Egypt's State Information Service publicly stepped in to reframe the agreement as a strictly commercial arrangement concluded by private energy companies. The framing firewalls the gas lifeline from Gaza-war politics.

Updated May 15