Energy secretary's dreams collide with Trump's cuts
Energy Secretary Chris Wright has big plans for technologies like advanced nuclear reactors and geothermal energy — but they could be hobbled by the Trump administration's proposed budget cuts to national labs.
As Brian Dabbs and I write today, Wright has vowed to 'make it vastly easier to build power plants in the United States.' The secretary is pushing for the Department of Energy's 17 labs, which have been central to energy research since the Manhattan Project during World War II, to help jumpstart the administration's 'energy dominance' agenda.
The Idaho National Laboratory, for example, announced results this week of a first-of-its-kind test to lower the amount of waste produced by reactors. Wright has also publicly supported lab research on nuclear fusion, a potential zero-carbon form of electricity that involves the same reaction powering the sun.
Here comes the White HouseBut President Donald Trump's proposed budget for fiscal year 2026 would slash the budget of the National Energy Technology Laboratory — which supports fossil fuel research — by 32 percent and cut fusion programs at multiple labs, including Argonne, Brookhaven and Idaho.
'As much as the secretary is talking about how excited he is about fusion, the budget they proposed cut it,' said Andrew Holland, CEO of the Fusion Industry Association.
Wind, solar, electric vehicles and building efficiency research would also be cut sharply under Trump's plan, a shift that analysts say could slow development of those technologies. The National Renewable Energy Laboratory in Colorado would see some of the sharpest cuts overall, with funding declining by more than 56 percent from current levels under Trump's plan.
DOE says many programs are being reorganized. The budget plan would shuffle funding for administration priorities such as geothermal, increasing it at NREL while reducing it at Lawrence Berkeley and Sandia labs.
Wright pushes onWright is backing higher levels of funding than Trump proposed for artificial intelligence and fusion. Speaking at the National Energy Technology Laboratory on Wednesday, he also signaled that his plan to build data centers on federal land — including multiple national labs — could include installing new nuclear power.
'You will see data centers built on national lab property,' he said. 'You also will see next-generation nuclear reactors tested' on federal lands sometime next year, he added.
The data center plan could become Wright's biggest footprint on the labs. The department told POLITICO's E&E News this week it is weighing next steps after receiving hundreds of comments on the proposal in May. Industry insiders say the department appears to be looking for 'combined packages' that involve building data centers with co-located power plants or other sources of electricity.
It's Thursday — thank you for tuning in to POLITICO's Power Switch. I'm your host, Christa Marshall. Arianna will be back soon! Power Switch is brought to you by the journalists behind E&E News and POLITICO Energy. Send your tips, comments, questions to cmarshall@eenews.net.
Today in POLITICO Energy's podcast: Zack Colman breaks down Trump's wildfire prevention strategy.
Power Centers
Get used to the heatThe heat dome that shattered record high temperatures in the eastern U.S. is part of weather patterns that are becoming more common because of climate change, Chelsea Harvey writes.
Scientists raised the issue in a recent study, saying that such long-lasting weather patterns will bring both heatwaves and heavy rainfall. The study says rapid warming in the Arctic could be the cause.
Oil's water problemTo help oil and gas companies dispose of polluted water, the Environmental Protection Agency is promoting reuse of that wastewater — a concern for environmentalists, but an EPA program that could garner support in oil-producing states, Miranda Willson writes.
The goal is to allow the chemical-laden, super-salty brine to be substantially cleaned and reused for power generation, water-guzzling data centers and irrigating range land.
Reusing the water could address a major industry challenge and help ease crippling drought in parts of Texas and New Mexico, two of the nation's most prolific oil-producing states.
Western water plan on the tableState negotiators in Western states struggling with how to share the drought-ravaged Colorado River say they could be close to breaking free from gridlock. The Interior Department has warned that missing a November deadline could force the federal government to impose its own solutions, Jennifer Yachnin writes.
Members of the Upper Colorado River Commission — which represents Colorado, New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming — are weighing a new method of sharing the waterway. The Lower Basin states of Arizona, California and Nevada proposed a new formula based on actual flows from the prior three years.
In Other News
Phone a friend: Trump officials have pushed European Union leaders to scale back major climate laws at the behest of the oil industry.
A new hope: The Trump administration's support for oil and gas has renewed hope in Nikiski, a southern Alaska town that is the epicenter of the long-planned Alaska LNG project.
Hot source for coolness: A neighborhood outside of Austin, Texas, is using geothermal energy to heat and cool its houses and buildings, which the developer says saves residents up to $2,000 a year on their utility bills.
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Texas Sen. Ted Cruz accused environmental groups of working with China on climate lawsuits targeting fossil fuels.
Tariffs and tax credit uncertainty could send grid storage installations plunging by 29 percent next year, according to a new report.
The Center for Biological Diversity sued the Trump administration to find out which power plants have asked for exemptions to the Clean Air Act.
The first-ever global climate conference missing officials from the U.S. wrapped up on Thursday with no clear signs that any nation was ready to fill the vacuum left by Washington.
That's it for today, folks! Thanks for reading.
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