Chris Wright, Secretary, U.S. Department of Energy
On November 20, 2025, the Secretary
of Energy announced an organizational realignment of the Department. Changes include renaming the Loan Program Office to the Office of Energy Dominance Financing and the creation of the Office
of Critical Minerals and Energy Innovation, which absorbed many of the functions of the Office of
Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy and the Office of Clean Energy Demonstrations and
Office of Manufacturing and Energy Supply Chains. The reorganization also established new
offices focused on fusion and on artificial intelligence and quantum technologies.
Subcommittee on Energy hearing to receive testimony on pending legislation.
Bills:
S. 465, Guaranteeing Reliability through the Interconnection of Dispatchable Power Act (GRID Power Act), A bill to require the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to reform the interconnection queue process for the prioritization and approval of certain projects, and for other purposes. Hoeven & Young
S. 1327, Advancing Grid-Enhancing Technologies Act, A bill to require the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to establish a shared savings incentive to return a portion of the savings attributable to an investment in grid-enhancing technology to the developer of that grid-enhancing technology, and for other purposes. Welch & King
S. 3034, Reliable Power Act, A bill to amend the Federal Power Act to require the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to review regulations that may affect the reliable operation of the bulk-power system, and for other purposes. Cotton
S. 3192, Responsive Energy Demand Unlocks Clean Energy Act (REDUCE Act), A bill to require Transmission Organizations to allow aggregators of retail customers to submit to organized wholesale electric markets bids that aggregate demand flexibility of customers of certain utilities, and for other purposes. Durbin
S. 3269, Liquid Cooling for AI Act, A bill to direct the Comptroller General of the United States to conduct a technology assessment focused on liquid cooling systems for artificial intelligence compute clusters and high-performance computing facilities, and for other purposes. McCormick, Coons, Budd, Schiff
S. 3947, Reconductoring Existing Wires for Infrastructure Reliability and Expansion Ac (REWIRE Act), A bill to amend the Federal Power Act to establish a categorical exclusion for reconductoring within existing rights-of-way, and for other purposes. McCormick, Welch
Witnesses
David L. Morenoff, Deputy General Counsel, Office of the General Counsel, Federal Energy Regulatory Commission
Kal Ayoub, Director, Office of Electric Reliability, Federal Energy Regulatory Commission
The Budget requests $53.9 billion in discretionary budget authority for DOE, a $4.8 billion or nearly 10-percent
increase from the 2026 enacted level excluding the Working Families Tax Cut Act (WFTC) funding. Within
the requested amount, $32.8 billion is allocated to the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA), a
$3.6 billion or 12-percent increase from the 2026 enacted level (including WFTC funding). The remaining $21.1 billion refects a $2.7 billion or 11-percent reduction
from the 2026 enacted level.
IIJA funds redirected to $3.5 billion to “deploy firm baseload power” and $1.2 billion for AI to
support seven AI supercomputers at the Argonne and Oak Ridge National Laboratories.
The Budget reproposes the cancellation of
$15.2 billion in IIJA funding.
DOE abolished the EERE office in 2026.
Office of Science (–$1.1 billion): The Budget eliminates funding for climate change research.
Advanced Research Project Agency-Energy (ARPA-E) (–$150 million).
The Budget prohibits the use of
Federal funds for expensive subscriptions to academic journals
unless required by Federal statute or approved in advance by a Federal agency
House Appropriations Committee
Energy and Water Development and Related Agencies Subcommittee
Jason Grebe, Senior Vice President Corporate Planning, Intel
Jason Oxman, President and CEO, Information Technology Industry Council
Witness Testimony
Dr. Charles Wessner, Nonresident Senior Advisor, Renewing American Innovation
Program, Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS)
Asad Ramzanali, Director of AI and Technology Policy, Vanderbilt Policy
Accelerator, Vanderbilt University
The U.S. global market share in semiconductor manufacturing capacity is in
decline. In 1990, the U.S. had a 37 percent share of global manufacturing capacity, but by 2022,
the U.S. held just 10 percent.