Speaker 1: Bloomberg Audio studios, podcasts, radio news. The Department of Energy
Speaker 1: is also celebrating one hundred days of American energy what
Speaker 1: it's calling victories, including in manufacturing and innovation. Joining us
Speaker 1: now is US Energy Secretary Chris Wright, Secretary right. Thank
Speaker 1: you for your time in joining us here on Bloomberg Technology.
Speaker 1: There is one question that that Americans that watch this
Speaker 1: show have for you, which is, how have you changed
Speaker 1: policy in that period of time for energy in a
Speaker 1: way that supports US manufacturers.
Speaker 2: Well, here I am at a plant in Griffin, Georgia,
Speaker 2: about forty miles southeast of Atlanta, that makes low cost, tankless,
Speaker 2: non condensing hot water heaters. A little too technical there,
Speaker 2: These are low cost heaters. Over a million Americans today
Speaker 2: take showers and wash their hands from water heated from
Speaker 2: a device in this plant, just in the last three years,
Speaker 2: and of course millions more interested in this technology because
Speaker 2: it's very low cost. And this was going to be illegal.
Speaker 2: On December twenty sixth, the Biden administration passed a rule
Speaker 2: through the Department of Energy, my predecessor, that would have
Speaker 2: made the manufacture of these devices illegal. Hundreds of people
Speaker 2: here in Georgia would have lost their jobs, and millions
Speaker 2: of Americans wouldn't have had a low cost choice to
Speaker 2: put into their house, their apartment, their you know, wherever
Speaker 2: it is. They want hot water, their restaurant, their business.
Speaker 2: And so we're thrilled to see this factory humming along
Speaker 2: and excited workers that they have the future and their
Speaker 2: products have a future.
Speaker 1: Secretary, right fifty miles away from where you're standing, Rivian
Speaker 1: is building an electric vehicle plant in Georgia. Rivian had
Speaker 1: secured a six point six billion dollar loan from the
Speaker 1: Department of Energy agreed under the prior administration. What is
Speaker 1: your assessment of that loan? Will it pro seed? And
Speaker 1: all you were viewing the issuance of those funds.
Speaker 2: So we will review the issuance of all the funds,
Speaker 2: loans and grants from the Department of the Energy. To
Speaker 2: give you one reason for the serious concern, we have
Speaker 2: about eighty percent of the loan money and the grant
Speaker 2: money put out by the Biden percent Biden administration, eighty
Speaker 2: percent went out after President Trump was elected and before
Speaker 2: his inauguration day. If they had great, rock solid, make
Speaker 2: American lives better opportunities, wouldn't they have done that? In
Speaker 2: the previous two and a half years, but instead so
Speaker 2: much of the money was rushed out the door after
Speaker 2: election day and before inauguration. So we've got a lot
Speaker 2: of reasons to be worried and suspicious about that. We're
Speaker 2: stewards of the American taxpayer's money, and the goal the
Speaker 2: Department of Energy is to improve our energy system, to
Speaker 2: make energy more affordable, reliable, and secure. Everything that serves
Speaker 2: that agenda we will carry through. So we want to
Speaker 2: if you want to carry out the president's agenda, follow
Speaker 2: the rule of law. And so some of these loans
Speaker 2: will go forward, some of them it's too late to
Speaker 2: change courses. A lot of them won't go forward. But
Speaker 2: that's a very careful review processes that we've just put
Speaker 2: in place and just got the team to execute on.
Speaker 1: Secretary Right, it's not just the company's manufacturing. If you
Speaker 1: think about the infrastructure, particularly from the utilities point of view,
Speaker 1: there is a lot of concern about storage capability. Tesla
Speaker 1: is the leader in energy storage right, but the frank
Speaker 1: reality is that for the energy storage products, it relies
Speaker 1: on prismatic LFP cells that are one hundred percent manufactured
Speaker 1: in China by c ATL if there is a need
Speaker 1: to build out storage product at the commercial scale. Are
Speaker 1: you evaluating any exemptions in the context of tariffs or
Speaker 1: any work with Tesla so that they can get moving
Speaker 1: on building out energy storage infrastructure in this country.
Speaker 2: Well, look, I won't talk on specific things right here,
Speaker 2: but we are looking very careful at everything we can
Speaker 2: do to reshure the manufacturing of critical systems like the
Speaker 2: ones you've talked about here in the United States. We've
Speaker 2: just become way too dependent on China for things that
Speaker 2: are in our defense systems, that are in our electric grids,
Speaker 2: that are in our automobiles, that are in our space systems.
Speaker 2: We need to bring that kind of manufacturing, those technologies,
Speaker 2: and those materials back into the United States. It is
Speaker 2: a high priority of the Trump administration.
Speaker 3: Secretary, right, you spend a lot of time talking to executives,
Speaker 3: as does the President. I just want you to rehaar
Speaker 3: what the Nvidia CEO said on the Hell just this week.
Speaker 3: Take a listen.
Speaker 4: In order for this industry to thrive, we need to
Speaker 4: build these systems, of course, but we also need a
Speaker 4: progressive growth and industry oriented energy policy, which this president
Speaker 4: has really put his way behind. I really appreciate that
Speaker 4: without energy, we can't possibly have new growth industries.
Speaker 3: An industry focused energy policy for AI. Secretary, Right, what
Speaker 3: does that industry policy look like?
Speaker 2: That means getting the barriers out of the way of
Speaker 2: energy production. Divide. The administration spent four years in sort
Speaker 2: of an all of government approach to impede the production
Speaker 2: of hydrocarbons in the United States up for all energy sources.
Speaker 2: But hydrocarbons are over eighty percent of US energy when
Speaker 2: I was born and they are today. So if you
Speaker 2: stand in the way of our main energy system, guess
Speaker 2: what you get? Higher prices. We grew our electricity production
Speaker 2: only two percent, twenty percent price rise. So to achieve
Speaker 2: in Vidia's and America's dream to win the AI race,
Speaker 2: we've got to produce a lot more electricity, a lot
Speaker 2: more of energy of all sorts in the United States.
Speaker 2: And all the government needs to do is get out
Speaker 2: of the way a little bit of common sense. There's
Speaker 2: American businesses, a Maria capital, American technologies ready to roar,
Speaker 2: and President Trump's goal is to unleash that American energy,
Speaker 2: that American capital and let American energy production grow sexually.
Speaker 3: Right, though, is there potential that you're accidentally getting in
Speaker 3: the way because of geopolitics and trade issues. Because the
Speaker 3: energy lack of in many ways is an infrastructure and
Speaker 3: supply chain issue. You don't have the turbines to be
Speaker 3: able to bring the energy at the infrastructure rate that
Speaker 3: the CEOs want to see. There's not enough equipment. Is
Speaker 3: there enough time to pivot to make that in the US.
Speaker 2: Oh, I've spoken to the turbine manufacturers and they are
Speaker 2: in huge demand right now. But ge Vernova made twenty
Speaker 2: seven of them last year. They'll make eighty of them
Speaker 2: next year. So that Americans are ingenious and with a
Speaker 2: little bit of regulatory common sense, they can ramp up
Speaker 2: their capacity rapidly. So no, I'm quite excited about how
Speaker 2: much new energy production capacity we'll see in the United
Speaker 2: States under construction today, and a lot more will be
Speaker 2: under construction by the end of this year. I think
Speaker 2: we will ramp it up in time. But you're right,
Speaker 2: it's going to be a race. It's going to be
Speaker 2: a race, but we must lead in AI and that
Speaker 2: means we must rapidly grow our energy production. But we're
Speaker 2: up for the.
Speaker 1: Job, Secretary, right, How reliant will the AI boom in
Speaker 1: this country be on fossil fuels. And while we have you,
Speaker 1: what is the plan for the SPR?
Speaker 2: Pleads Well, the natural gas is by far the biggest
Speaker 2: source of electricity in the United States, followed by nuclear
Speaker 2: and coal, so that's what's going to power the race.
Speaker 2: It's slow to build coal plants and nuclear plants are
Speaker 2: very slow. We want to change that. But in the
Speaker 2: short term, the main source of additional electricity that will
Speaker 2: power AI arms race is going to be expanded natural
Speaker 2: gas electricity production. That'll be the workhorse of winning the
Speaker 2: AI race. But a lot of solars getting built, transmission,
Speaker 2: energy store bridge, all of the above that works, that'll
Speaker 2: add to it. Your last question, sorry, repeat it again.
Speaker 1: The status of the SPR. Please.
Speaker 2: Hey, the SPR was half drained for the twenty twenty
Speaker 2: two mid term elections, so we are filling it slowly
Speaker 2: right now, but we're going to try to get money
Speaker 2: through Congress to fill it more rapidly. But unfortunately you
Speaker 2: can only fill it at a much slower pace than
Speaker 2: you can drain it, so it will take us years
Speaker 2: to fill it back. But we will entirely fill it
Speaker 2: because it's a strategic reserve. You got to have that
Speaker 2: because you never know what's coming.
Speaker 3: We appreciate your time outside, of course Rehinai America Corporation.
Speaker 3: US Energy Secretary Chris Right