Under the leadership of President Donald Trump and Secretary Chris Wright, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has reported a series of actions aimed at increasing domestic energy production, lowering consumer costs, and advancing national security. The DOE states that these efforts have resulted in record levels of oil and natural gas production and reduced energy prices for Americans.
According to the DOE, gas prices are now at a five-year low, averaging $2.80 per gallon, with American consumers saving over $500 million during the last Christmas season. The United States is producing 24.2 million barrels of oil per day—more than Saudi Arabia and Russia combined—and 108 billion cubic feet of natural gas per day, matching the output of Russia, Iran, and China together.
The administration ended what it described as a ban on liquefied natural gas (LNG) exports instituted by the previous administration. Since January 2025, DOE reports approving more LNG export capacity than is currently exported by the world’s second-largest LNG exporter.
The department also highlights lower prices for propane, kerosene, firewood, and fuel oil since President Trump took office. The Strategic Petroleum Reserve is being refilled after significant drawdowns under the prior administration. In May 2025, DOE proposed eliminating 47 regulations to reduce consumer costs by an estimated $11 billion. By March 2025, four conservation standards related to appliances were withdrawn to reduce regulatory burdens; since January 2025 there have been 27 deregulatory actions regarding appliance standards that DOE says will save consumers and businesses approximately $254 million annually in future first costs.
DOE asserts that earlier plans under President Biden would have led to major shortfalls in electricity generation and increased blackouts. To address this risk and stabilize grid reliability and affordability, “President Trump declared a national energy emergency and made it a central mission of his administration to lower costs and stabilize the grid.” According to the department: “The Energy Department has issued 19 emergency orders, to maximize grid reliability, affordability and to keep power online and available that would have otherwise been shuttered.” Emergency support was also directed toward Puerto Rico’s grid crisis with $365 million reallocated for repairs.
The agency reversed policies affecting hydroelectricity in the Columbia River Basin that could have resulted in losing more than 3 gigawatts of power—enough for about 2.5 million homes—and cancelled over $13 billion in unobligated funds from previous clean energy initiatives.
Coal policy changes include new measures intended to strengthen coal worker wages and prevent plant closures: “Thanks to President Trump, wages for coal workers are up and coal plants across the country are reversing plans to shut down,” stated DOE materials. More than 17 gigawatts of coal-powered electricity generation were reportedly preserved by year-end 2025.
Nuclear energy expansion is another priority cited by DOE: “DOE has taken numerous actions to accelerate the development of next generation nuclear technology…to accomplish President Trump’s goal of expanding American nuclear energy capacity from approximately 100 GW in 2024 to 400 GW by 2050.” Recent funding includes $800 million awarded for small modular reactor deployment (December 2025), a $2.7 billion investment announced in January 2026 for domestic uranium enrichment capacity building, closure on a $1 billion loan for restarting a Pennsylvania nuclear plant (November 2025), as well as selections for pilot programs aimed at advanced reactors and fuel supply chains throughout mid-2025.
Efforts are underway within DOE’s National Labs to commercialize technologies extracting critical minerals from industrial waste streams while reducing dependence on foreign supply chains; funding announcements included $355 million for mineral production projects (November 2025) and $134 million targeting rare earth element supply chains (December 2025). A loan restructuring with Lithium Americas aims at establishing a domestic lithium carbonate source with government equity participation.
On national security matters tied directly to DOE’s responsibilities through its National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA), modernization activities received over $3 billion following passage of President Trump’s Working Families Tax Cut earlier this year. The NNSA completed early assembly of the B61-13 gravity bomb modification—a process described as among the fastest since the Cold War era—and finished modernizing W88 warheads used aboard Ohio-class submarines. Two new supercomputers were delivered at Los Alamos National Laboratory supporting research relevant both to defense needs and scientific work including artificial intelligence advancements.
Scientific innovation remains part of DOE’s focus as well: On November 24, President Trump signed Executive Order 14363 directing DOE’s Genesis Mission initiative combining private sector AI resources with federal data infrastructure; additional strategic roadmaps aim at accelerating fusion power commercialization nationwide.
“With President Trump and Secretary Wright’s leadership, the Energy Department has ushered in an unprecedented era of energy dominance,” according to official statements from DOE press materials.
“On Day One, President Trump directed the Energy Department to end the Biden LNG export ban… Since January [2025], The Energy Department has approved more LNG export capacity than the volume exported today by the world’s second-largest LNG exporter.”
“In May [2025], the Energy Department announced the largest deregulatory effort in department history…estimated to save Americans $11 billion in costs.”
“An Energy Department report released in [year] showed that before President Trump’s election America was on track…for reliable electricity generation shortfall[s]…and [a hundredfold] increase [in] blackouts…”
“Thanks to President Trump…wages for coal workers are up…”
“DOE has taken numerous actions…to accomplish President Trump’s goal of expanding American nuclear energy capacity from approximately [100 GW]…to [400 GW] by [2050].”
“Signed into law earlier this year…[the] Working Families Tax Cut made more than [$3 billion] available…at NNSA.”
“The first unit [of B61-13 gravity bomb modification] was assembled almost a year before original target date…and less than two years after program announcement…”
