Energy Reliability: A Life-or-Death Matter
February 20, 2026
It’s not grandstanding. It’s quite simply the truth—energy is life, and the lack of it brings
disaster and death. You’ve heard us list the many examples of why reliable energy is not only a
matter of convenience but of literal life or death in circumstances like extreme weather, natural
disasters or even potential national security events. Affordable, reliable and clean energy is the
driver behind lowering prices and inspiring growth that keeps Americans successful—but also
safe and healthy—both at home, at work and in the larger economy.
We’ve seen a lot of progress toward the affordable, reliable and clean energy goal over the last
year. But, the best solution to keep Americans safe and successful is passing the Affordable,
Reliable, Clean Energy Security Act (ARC ES Act) into law of the land.
A Return to Reliability
The Trump administration has shown a clear understanding of the need for reliability in our
energy supply. The last few months have seen them removing many of the arbitrary laws
blocking one of our most affordable and reliable American energy sources—coal.
Recently the White House issued an executive order directing the Department of War to
purchase electricity for our military bases and other critical defense facilities from America’s
clean coal fleet. The order places priority on “projects that enhance grid reliability and blackout
prevention, on-site fuel security, and mission assurance for defense and intelligence
capabilities.” There is no idea that better illustrates the dire circumstances that can result from
unreliable and intermittent power than the potential of our military installations losing power.
In these uncertain times, the consequences of such a national security disaster could be truly
tragic for the United States.
In January, The Department of Energy announced that it had held the inaugural meeting of the
reestablished National Coal Council (NCC). The Council “serves as a key advisory body to inform
and provide expert guidance on the future of coal technologies and markets and navigating coal’s importance in achieving energy dominance.” The Council was reestablished under a
broader order issued by the White House last spring that aimed to reinvigorate the clean coal
industry and take measures to make sure this abundant and affordable American energy source
continues to contribute to a reliable electrical grid and overall energy economy.
Coal Gets the Job Done
In recent history, coal has been vilified. But, the fact is, it has been a key source of energy,
especially for electricity generation, that fueled and built this country for centuries. If we want
truly reliable energy and an electrical grid that keeps our lights on even during natural disasters
and other crises, coal needs to be part of the American energy mix. And, with a focus on
technology and ingenuity, coal has the potential to be as clean an energy source as any other
we use.
Coal was used to power Thomas Edison’s earliest power stations, bringing the first electricity to
the American people. It is literally the energy source that helped build this nation and turned on
America’s lights. The United States has more coal than any other country in the world. We have
53% more proved coal reserves than Russia, the country with the next largest coal reserves. The
United States has 485 years of coal supply from proved reserves, and 912 years from technically
recoverable coal. The idea of leaving all that energy in the ground is absurd and downright
irresponsible.
Right now, traditional energy sources power over 78% of our electricity in this country—coal
contributes just over 16% of that electricity. That’s still more than wind and solar energies.
Renewable energy has it’s place in the mix. Power sources like natural gas and nuclear energy
are indispensable to having an affordable, reliable and clean power grid in modern America.
But, coal energy is the epitome of reliability. It has been powering our nation for hundreds of years, and we never should have abandoned that stability because of green fearmongering.
Instead, we should return to the American drive and ingenuity Edison brought to his first light
bulb and build the technologies that keeps this resource contributing affordable, reliable, and
clean energy to our country.
ARC ES is the Path Forward
As recently as 2014, nearly 40% of our electricity was fueled by coal. In 2001, it was over 50%.
The sudden shift against this reliable and integral energy source is the kind of thinking that has
brought us to the brink of crisis. The hasty, short-sighted elimination of it from our energy mix
has directly led us to our new era of skyrocketing electric bills for American families and power
outages that increasingly last for days or weeks at a time.
That’s why executive orders like the ones we’ve seen from President Trump that take us back to
a true energy mix focused on growth and a power grid we can count on rain or shine are great
progress. But, they aren’t enough.
We need the Affordable, Reliable, Clean Energy Security Act codified into law at the federal and
state levels to ensure that we don’t just turn backward if the political winds in Washington
shift. ARC ES would create simple and straightforward definitions in law for what is affordable,
reliable and clean energy. Putting simple definitions behind these terms will finally create the
policy environment necessary to stop the “Green New Deal”-style games that politically
motivated extremists have been playing with our energy supply for the last several years.
Introduced by Congressman Troy Balderson (OH-12), this bill will protect every American’s
access to their energy birthright. And, the best part, this legislation is simple and built on one of
our favorite things here at TEA—good, old-fashioned common sense, not empty green promises
and political slogans. It’s time to go back to our energy roots. Our very lives may depend on it.