The Senate has confirmed Colorado fracking services contractor Chris Wright to lead the Department of Energy (DOE) in its management of the nation’s nuclear weapons stockpile, national labs in energy development, and in implementing President Donald Trump’s energy policies.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) in a mid-afternoon address before a largely empty chamber praised Wright as uniquely qualified to lead the DOE in a time of sweeping technological breakthroughs and “all-of-the-above” energy diversification.
“One of the most important resources is America’s ability to innovate—the knowledge and capabilities we have to expand the realm of possibility,” he said. “It’s a big part of the work of the energy department, and it’s what Chris Wright has spent his life doing. Mr. Wright calls himself, and I quote, ‘a science geek turned energy nerd turned lifelong energy entrepreneur.’”
An MIT-educated scientist and engineer, Wright is the CEO of Denver-based Liberty Energy, one of the nation’s leading fracking contractors. Thune said the DOE nominee has experience, knowledge, and investments across the energy development spectrum.
Wright “will be notable among secretaries of energy for his depth of experience,“ Thune said. ”He has experience in nuclear energy, solar, geothermal, wind power, oil, and natural gas. He’s worked on innovations and technology that have reshaped the energy industry, and he’s seen what energy can do to improve human lives, bring people out of poverty, and remake entire societies.
“Chris Wright is passionate about energy.
“He knows it’s one of our most important assets, and he’s ready to get to work.”
Sens. Mike Lee (R-Utah), who chairs the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, and John Hoeven (R-N.D.) also urged fellow senators to confirm Wright.
DOE “is a powerhouse that can help make or break our economy, our national security, and our ability to lead on the world stage,” Lee said during a rebuke of the Biden administration’s energy policies, which he said raised energy costs, cost American jobs, and weakened national security.
“Chris Wright understands that affordable, abundant energy is imperative to our national security,” Lee said. “It’s what allows families to heat their homes in the winter without going broke. It’s what enables businesses to grow, hire, and compete globally, and it’s what keeps America secure, independent, and free from the whims of foreign suppliers.”
While vowing to slash permitting timelines, encourage natural gas exports, and accelerate electric grid expansion, he also conveyed a nuanced appreciation for renewable energy development in expressing support for an ‘all-of-the-above’ energy policy.
Wright is an investor in Fervo Energy, a Texas “green energy” company that uses fracking technologies to develop geothermal resources; and a board member of Oklo Inc., a nuclear technology company, and EMX Royalty Corp., a royalty payment company for mineral rights and mining rights.
During his nomination hearing, Wright was introduced by Sen. John Hickenlooper (D-Colo.), a former Colorado governor, who said while they “disagree on a lot of things,” Wright is a great fit to lead the DOE.
“He’s, indeed, an unrestrained enthusiast for fossil fuels in almost every regard, but he studied nuclear. His first years working were in solar. He has experience in wind. He is a practitioner and a key innovator around geothermal,” the senator said. “He is a scientist who is open to discussion, and he is, again, a scientist who is a successful entrepreneur and has that ability to assess what is possible and what isn’t.”
Wright told senators how important the energy sector is to the United States.
“The reason I sit in front of you today is because President-elect Trump and I share a passion for energy and an instinctual understanding that energy is not a sector of the economy—it’s the sector of the economy that enables everything else we do,” Wright said.
He said he'd administer an energy policy that safeguards “American quality of life, American economic strength, our geopolitical power, and what the possibilities are for the future, how we can make our children’s and grandchildren’s lives so much better than ours.”
Under questioning, Wright affirmed opposition to many provisions and allocations authorized by the Biden administration’s three signature “green energy” bills: 2021’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, 2022’s CHIPS and Science Act, and 2022’s Inflation Reduction Act (IRA). He supports efforts to unplug some “auto pilot” funding streams, especially from the IRA.
Asked by Democrats whether he’d “protect clean energy provisions in the IRA” and resist “impoundment” of previously approved DOE funding, Wright would only say that he’d “follow the statutes and laws of the United States.”
Asked by Republicans whether he’d follow recommendations in a December 2024 Inspector General report citing concerns about how DOE’s Loan Program Office is allocating loans, he said he’d “immediately” suspend $25 billion in “unfinalized” authorized authorizations.
Wright advanced to the full Feb. 4 Senate confirmation after the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee endorsed his nomination in a 15–5 vote on Jan. 23.
