Chris Wright

Built World

In office since February 2025

Seventy percent of America's power lines and transformers are over 25 years old. On June 30, 2026, Secretary Wright issued two emergency orders for the Mid-Atlantic grid after PJM Interconnection forecast demand near 166,000 megawatts—approaching the region's all-time record.

Updated Jul 3

Rule Changes

Directed FERC to start the rulemaking

For decades, the cost of upgrading the power grid was spread across everyone's electric bill. On June 18, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) acted on a rule that could put much of that cost on the data centers that trigger it.

Updated Jun 18

Built World

Overseeing the reactor pilot program

On June 4, 2026, a small reactor at an Idaho desert lab started a self-sustaining nuclear chain reaction. It was the first privately built non-light-water reactor to reach criticality in the United States in more than 40 years.

Updated Jun 5

Built World

Visited Venezuela in February 2026 to set up the removal

About 13.5 kilograms of bomb-grade uranium sat in a shuttered Venezuelan research reactor for 35 years. This week the US flew it to a processing site in South Carolina, less than six weeks after inspectors first walked the floor.

Updated May 31

Rule Changes

DOE awarded $2.7B for domestic uranium enrichment in early 2026; agency declared nuclear executive order implementation 'in full swing' by May 2026

On March 4, 2026, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission approved a construction permit for TerraPower's Natrium reactor at Kemmerer, Wyoming—the first permit for a commercial non-light-water reactor in more than 40 years. TerraPower broke ground on April 23 with Bechtel as general contractor, making Kemmerer the first utility-scale advanced nuclear plant under active construction in the US.

Updated May 31

Rule Changes

Leading nuclear energy expansion

The Energy Department published its secretly rewritten nuclear safety rules on February 26, about a month after NPR first reported their existence. By early March, Aalo Atomics had completed its Critical Test Reactor at Idaho National Laboratory — assembled in 40 days, the first new reactor built at INL in 50 years — and said it would go critical within weeks.

Updated May 27

Rule Changes

Driving expanded use of Section 202(c) emergency authority

Between 1977 and 2000, the Energy Secretary used Section 202(c) of the Federal Power Act exactly zero times; since May 2025, it has been invoked more than 40 times. On May 22, Secretary Chris Wright added another, directing Talen Energy to run a 54-year-old oil-fired unit outside Baltimore beyond its environmental run cap from now through August 19.

Updated May 22

Built World

In office since February 2025

The United States performed less than 1% of global uranium enrichment when the Department of Energy announced $2.7 billion in contracts to three companies on January 21, 2026. Russia controls 44% of global enrichment capacity and supplied roughly a quarter of American reactor fuel until Congress banned imports in 2024. The last U.S.-owned enrichment facility shut down in 2013.

Updated May 22

Rule Changes

Leading administration efforts to accelerate data center grid connections

For decades, American households paid roughly the same share of electricity costs regardless of which industries were expanding. AI data centers have broken that arrangement.

Updated May 20

New Capabilities

Leading Genesis Mission implementation

The White House mobilized America's 17 national laboratories and major tech companies—OpenAI, Anthropic, Google, Microsoft, NVIDIA. The Genesis Mission aims to double US research productivity in a decade by connecting supercomputers, quantum systems, and AI into one discovery platform. Energy Secretary Chris Wright announced 24 corporate partners at a January 11 summit.

Updated May 20

Built World

Cancelled an Israel visit amid the deal’s October 2025 stall

A day after Israel approved the Leviathan-to-Egypt export permit, Egypt's State Information Service publicly stepped in to reframe the agreement as a strictly commercial arrangement concluded by private energy companies. The framing firewalls the gas lifeline from Gaza-war politics.

Updated May 15