The Senate confirmed Chris Wright to lead the Department of Energy, where he will play a key role in pursuing the administration’s goals of lowering energy prices and boosting oil production.
Wright, 59, was confirmed Monday evening in a 59-38 vote.
Wright was the founder and CEO of the oil service firm Liberty Energy. Wright will oversee the nation’s energy infrastructure and use of clean energy technologies. The Trump administration has promised to boost oil production to lower energy prices.
Wright will also be responsible for ensuring the nation’s electric grid can withstand the growing energy demand from artificial intelligence and data centers.
“Chris Wright understands that affordable, abundant energy is imperative to our national security,” Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT) said on the Senate floor on Monday. “We must rebuild trust with the American people and secure our place as the dominant global energy leader.”
Lee chairs the Energy and Natural Resources Committee, where Wright received bipartisan support from its members. Wright received a fairly friendly confirmation hearing last month, where he highlighted his approach to energy policy.
“The only way you can drive down the price of a critical commodity is to grow the supply,” Wright told lawmakers at his confirmation hearing. “I’m 100% committed to growing our electricity grid and our energy production and removing those barriers that are standing in the way.”
Wright told lawmakers he plans to grow all types of “affordable” and “reliable” energy sources, such as coal, solar, wind, nuclear power, hydropower, and geothermal.
Wright has previously called himself a “huge nuclear fan.” He served on the board of Oklo, a small modular reactor developer. His company, Liberty Energy, has also invested in geothermal energy businesses.
But he has previously criticized wind and solar energy, arguing that they raise electricity prices and destabilize the electricity grid.
Wright did encounter opposition from liberal climate activists, who accused him of rejecting climate science. In a 2023 video on his LinkedIn profile, Wright said, “There is no climate crisis, and we’re not in the midst of an energy transition, either.”