A New Era of Energy Pragmatism Begins – And Consumers Will Benefit
A letter from David Holt, President of Consumer Energy Alliance:
In just a few short months, the Trump administration has fundamentally transformed America's energy landscape, marking a decisive shift toward what American families, farmers, and small businesses have desperately needed: pragmatic energy policies focused on affordability, reliability, and environmental responsibility.
The new administration has wasted no time. Energy Secretary Chris Wright, with his extensive industry experience as the former CEO of Liberty Energy and a strongly held belief that energy reduces poverty and spurs growth, brings real-world understanding to a role that demands practical knowledge of what it takes to produce and deliver energy. Interior Secretary Doug Burgum is already working to remove unnecessary regulatory hurdles for responsible development on federal lands. EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin is refocusing the agency on its core mission, and attempting to reverse findings that he argues gave the EPA far more power than Congress intended it to have.
The impact of these changes cannot be overstated. Under the previous administration, electricity rates climbed an average of 5.5% annually, compared to just under 1% during President Trump's first term. This dramatic increase left one in five Americans unable to pay some or all of their energy bills in 2024, even after cutting other expenses. For too many families, energy affordability became a crisis hidden in plain sight.
What we're seeing now is a restoration of balance and realism to energy policy. The administration's approach acknowledges the fundamental truth that oil, natural gas, and coal currently provide 83% of U.S. energy, and that petroleum products are essential to more than 6,000 everyday items. This isn't a question of ideology—it's a fact, a reality, a truth. The notion that these resources could be eliminated or replaced overnight, instead of over decades of our energy system evolution, without causing economic devastation defies logic, experience and history showing that these kinds of changes are gradual.
The contrast between states with different energy approaches tells the story. Residential electricity rates in states with stringent renewable mandates like California, Massachusetts, and New York range from 24.51 to 32.99 cents per kilowatt hour. Meanwhile, states embracing energy diversity like Arkansas, Idaho, Louisiana, Oklahoma, and Utah enjoy rates between 11.42 and 12.37 cents—less than half the cost.
This reality becomes even more critical as we face unprecedented demand growth. The AI revolution will require an estimated 33% annual increase in capacity through 2030, according to McKinsey & Company, potentially consuming 11-12% of U.S. power demand by the end of the decade. Meeting this demand while keeping energy affordable and reliable requires leveraging every resource at our disposal. “All of the above” energy is a cliché, but like many clichés, it hangs around because it’s accurate. We need every energy resource we can put into service to support affordable, reliable energy.
President Trump’s urging of the revival of the Constitution Pipeline – stalled for eight years before being canceled in 2020—exemplifies this pragmatic approach. This project will transport natural gas from Pennsylvania into neighboring New York, which has stopped natural gas pipeline expansions and thereby cutoff the nation’s second largest gas field from getting to markets that desperately need it in New England. By streamlining approval processes and removing redundant regulations, we can cut years off development timelines while maintaining environmental standards that are among the world’s most stringent.
Equally important is the effort to realign independent regulatory agencies with accountable governance. President Trump's Day One executive order on energy and declaration of a national energy emergency both aim to ensure that agencies wielding significant authority remain accountable to the American people and that the federal government focus on fostering domestic energy, rather than limiting its potential. That happened throughout the previous presidential administration, best exemplified by the actions to stop or stall offshore energy exploration in the Gulf of America. None of these actions are about lowering standards—they are about creating a more efficient regulatory environment that allows innovation to flourish and energy to be produced responsibly.
With the return of realism, the energy conversation is returning to facts and figures, and leaving word games behind. Many of the changes made by the second Trump Administration have been declared “rollbacks,” a word that implies that somehow, changes to make regulations more modern and efficient are the same as going backwards. Nonsense. The prevalence of this kind of loaded language has contributed to policy decisions that have only made energy more expensive and less reliable, as consumers in Germany, California, and New York have unfortunately discovered.
Energy realism means we can have honest conversations about what it takes to have affordable, reliable, resilient, and cleaner energy, and exactly what that means for our daily lives and economy.
The path forward requires an expansive, inclusive approach that recognizes the complementary roles of natural gas, oil, nuclear, solar, wind, and emerging technologies. None are inconsistent with a cleaner environment, unless you believe that America's long history of innovation and technological progress has suddenly ended.
For consumers, this is a moment to become more engaged and informed about energy realities. As omnipresent as energy is in our lives, how it reaches our homes and businesses remains a mystery to many. This knowledge gap has allowed misguided policies to proliferate, resulting in fewer energy choices, higher prices, stunted economic growth and job loss.
This isn't about partisan politics—it's about ensuring every American family can afford to keep the lights on, every farmer can afford to operate equipment and bring in the harvest, and every small business can manage overhead costs while creating jobs. It's about balancing immediate needs with continued progress toward cleaner energy solutions.
The window for energy pragmatism is open. For the sake of American’s future and our shared economic success, let's seize this moment.
Consumer Energy Alliance | https://consumerenergyalliance.org/