With President Donald Trump and Secretary of Energy Chris Wright at the helm, the U.S. Department of Energy reports a series of policy changes and initiatives over the past year aimed at increasing domestic energy production, lowering consumer costs, and reshaping regulatory approaches.
According to the Department, gas prices have reached a five-year low, averaging about $2.80 per gallon. The agency claims this resulted in more than $500 million in savings for Americans during the recent holiday season. U.S. oil production is reported to be at 24.2 million barrels per day, surpassing the combined output of Saudi Arabia and Russia. Natural gas production has also reached new highs, with daily output matching that of Russia, Iran, and China combined.
The Department states that on his first day in office, President Trump directed an end to the previous administration’s liquefied natural gas (LNG) export ban. Since then, approvals for LNG export capacity have exceeded current exports by the world’s second-largest exporter.
Prices for propane, kerosene, firewood, and fuel oil are also reported to be down since President Trump took office. The Department credits these changes partly to the passage of the Working Families Tax Cut and ongoing efforts to refill and repair the Strategic Petroleum Reserve after previous drawdowns.
In May 2025, the Energy Department announced what it calls its largest deregulatory effort ever—proposing elimination of 47 regulations with an estimated savings of $11 billion for consumers. In March 2025, four conservation standards were withdrawn for electric motors, ceiling fans, dehumidifiers, and external power supplies. Since January 2025, a total of 27 deregulatory actions related to appliance and equipment standards have been completed.
A report from the Department in 2025 warned that before President Trump’s election there was a risk of major electricity shortages and increased blackouts due to plans under the prior administration to close coal, natural gas, and hydroelectric plants. To address grid reliability concerns, 19 emergency orders have been issued by DOE since January 2025 to keep power plants online during periods of high demand or extreme weather.
Efforts were also made in Puerto Rico where $365 million was reallocated in October 2025 to support repairs to its electrical grid.
In September 2025, more than $13 billion in unobligated funds previously appropriated for clean energy initiatives were cancelled by DOE and returned to the U.S. Treasury.
Coal industry support is another focus area; wages are reportedly up for coal workers as plant closures are reversed or prevented. By end-2025 more than 17 gigawatts of coal-powered generation had been preserved according to DOE figures. The National Coal Council was reinstated as an advisory body on future coal technologies; Jim Grech (Peabody Energy Corp.) was named Committee Chair and Jimmy Brock (Core Natural Resources) as Vice Chair during its inaugural meeting on January 15, 2026.
On nuclear energy development: “DOE has taken numerous actions to accelerate the development of next generation nuclear technology and restore domestic supply chains to accomplish President Trump’s goal of expanding American nuclear energy capacity from approximately 100 GW in 2024 to 400 GW by 2050.” The department highlighted awards including $800 million granted in December 2025 for small modular reactor deployment; a $2.7 billion investment announced in January 2026 for uranium enrichment; closure of a $1 billion loan for restarting a Pennsylvania nuclear plant; pilot projects supporting advanced nuclear fuel lines; conditional commitments for high-assay low-enriched uranium; initial selections for reactor pilot programs; site selections for AI data center infrastructure on federal lands; and launch of new pilot programs supporting advanced reactors.
To strengthen critical mineral supply chains domestically—and reduce reliance on foreign sources—the Department awarded $355 million in November 2025 toward new mining technologies using industrial byproducts as feedstocks along with $134 million in December focused on rare earth element processing projects within the United States.
DOE restructured a loan agreement with Lithium Americas Corporation so that “the U.S. Government [now holds] 5% equity ownership…in form of warrants,” intended as further taxpayer protection while launching domestic lithium carbonate production.
National security modernization included completion ahead-of-schedule manufacturing for B61-13 gravity bombs—”the latest modification…assembled almost a year before original target date”—and finalization of upgrades under W88 Alteration (Alt) 370 warhead program used by Ohio-class submarines. Two new supercomputers were also announced at Los Alamos National Laboratory.
On science innovation: “On November 24, 2025, President Trump signed Executive Order 14363 directing the Department of Energy to lead its flagship AI initiative—the Genesis Mission—a national project combining America’s world-leading private-sector AI capabilities with DOE’s scientific data…” In October last year DOE released its Fusion Science & Technology Roadmap outlining strategy toward commercialization of fusion power.
