FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                                                 

November 9, 2016

USEA Congratulates President-elect Trump, new lawmakers and discusses energy policy changes

WASHINGTON, D.C. — U.S. Energy Association Executive Director, Barry Worthington, issued the following statement congratulating President-elect Donald Trump on his victory Tuesday.

“The celebrated election of 2016 and the victory of President-elect Donald Trump is an historic moment for our country, and we expect significant policy changes across all sectors. USEA looks forward to working with the new White House and administration officials as well as the newly elected and re-elected members of the U.S. House and Senate.  

“The country is at a pivotal moment, and the evolution of our energy policy is central to the changes we should expect in a new Trump administration. While energy wasn’t a central issue to the 2016 campaigns, President-elect Trump has promised to make sweeping changes to our energy policy.

“Most notably, President-elect Trump has promised to dissolve the contentious Clean Power Plan and walk away from global climate agreements, such as the Paris Accord. Absent the CPP, a number of coal plants may not have to go into retirement, and certainly natural gas will continue to provide more than 30 percent of our electricity generation. However, renewable energy development—wind and solar projects in the pipeline—will likely reach fruition. And, state authority over renewable portfolio standards will help drive some of that renewable energy expansion and technology growth. President-elect Trump will not likely push for federal incentives or subsidies for renewable energy.

“President-elect Trump will nominate one U.S. Supreme Court justice and two commissioners to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, two decisions that could mean big change to the dockets and movement on significant pipeline and transmission projects.  

“USEA congratulates the new members of the 115th Congress. With full support from a Trump White House, we should expect the House and Senate to successfully continue its pursuit of a comprehensive energy bill, one that includes an expedited process at the Department of Energy and the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to approve LNG terminal applications. We should see some provisions emerge to streamline the electric transmission siting process as well. It would be the first significant energy bill in a decade. We look forward to the development of domestic energy projects under the new Congress and administration.

“President-elect Trump and his administration promises to be bipartisan and we look forward to working together to help meet our country’s growing energy demand and build our critical infrastructure.”

If you would like to speak with Barry Worthington, please reach out to Dipka Bhambhani at [email protected].