Department of Energy (DOE) Secretary Chris Wright said on Thursday that the Trump administration is working to support a power grid that is reaching its limit.
Fox News reported that Wright cautioned that, currently, the Trump administration is working to prevent a disaster for the country:
"In my department, we've issued four emergency orders just in the last few weeks to stop the closure of reliable plants, so we can keep the lights on and stop pushing up electricity prices," Wright said on "Mornings with Maria."
"We were on a course that was a train wreck," he added. "We're doing everything possible now to sweep out the nonsense."
Earlier in the week, the DOE issued an emergency order to address the Southeast heatwave that is putting the power grid's capabilities under intense pressure.
According to the department, the stress puts sections of. The country is at risk of blackouts, and certain areas are at maximum utilization of the electric generating units.
"We had to issue an emergency order a few days ago just to let utilities in the Southeast run their plants at full capacity so they could keep the lights on. Under the Biden laws, that's illegal," Wright claimed.
According to the energy chief, it's only because of recent changes by the Trump administration on how energy generation and usage will be prioritized that the amount of power we have has been sufficient.
"Emissions rules would have prevented them from producing all the electricity they could, and they would have had rolling brownouts," Wright said. "That's just total nonsense."
The administration has been making major changes to boost grid capability and give the DOE access to emergency orders, and analyze electricity reserves in the U.S.
In February of this year, Wright signed a secretarial order as part of his plan to “Unleash [the] Golden Era of American Energy Dominance” under Trump's orders.
The order directed the DOE to pursue Trump's plan of American energy dominance, and he outlined nine core actions that would reduce regulatory barriers, expand domestic energy production, and modernize infrastructure.
The order also made it clear that the abundance of available energy was more important to the administration than net-zero carbon emission goals, saying that national security and economic competitiveness are top administration priorities.
"America is blessed with abundant energy resources – we are the world’s top oil and gas producer and a net energy exporter for the first time in decades," the order states. "Our energy abundance is an asset, not a liability."
