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More Energy Production = More Energy Affordability

May 21, 2026

Need to know

  • Check out TEA’s website for the latest in energy news and opinion.
  • Afternoon TEA: Memorial Day Is When We Remember.
  • TEA Takes: Local landowners in Ohio were outspent 30-1 in a fight over solar and won anyway.
  • Defense Department delays 54 wind projects in Texas, citing national security concerns.
  • AI data center demand drove a 76% surge in prices across the East grid.
  • NextEra Energy to buy Dominion in a deal that unites two key players.
  • Trump may have created an accidental EV mandate.
  • Democrats on collision course over EV fees in highway bill.

ARC in the states

  • Michigan is considering legislation introduced in March, House Bills 5710 and 5711, that, like ARC-ES, would require the consideration of all energy sources in long-term planning in the state.

Common Sense

FULL STEAM AHEAD: The US plans to issue oil drilling permits in Alaska within 30 days to lower energy prices. The new system will accelerate the implementation of the large-scale Willow project in America’s Last Frontier.
Why it matters: This is certainly a prudent move by the Trump administration during this uncertain time and we encourage him to support ARC Energy Security legislation as a long-term solution. Alternatively an ARC-ES Executive Order, similar to what President Trump signed on his first day in office to unleash American energy, would make energy affordable, reliable and clean for present day Americans and for generations to come.
Consider: Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum announced the start of a new effort to streamline permitting for oil and gas infrastructure in the approximately 23-million-acre National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska.
About 1.6 million acres are currently leased in the reserve, with additional leases to be finalized soon following the historic lease sale held in March. Alaska also possesses some of the largest natural gas reserves in the United States. The state’s proven reserves of roughly 125 trillion cubic feet rank second highest in the nation.
  • Affordable energy benefits families, manufacturers, trucking, agriculture and small businesses.
  • Oil and gas development creates high-paying jobs in construction, engineering, transportation, refining and field operations.
  • Alaska relies heavily on oil and gas royalties and taxes to fund schools, infrastructure and public services.
  • Development also increases federal and state tax revenue.
“The Trump administration is building on that record by giving companies the certainty they need to invest, create good-paying jobs, strengthen Alaska’s economy and keep America Energy Dominant,” Burgum said.
Alaska isn’t the only state with unlimited natural resources. From West Virginia and Pennsylvania to Louisiana and Wyoming, we are blessed with natural gas, oil, coal and other sources of energy. Those too can be tapped into in an effort to halt any reliance on adversarial foreign nations.
Bottom line: America must utilize its abundant assets — albeit responsibly — to not only help with the present energy situation, but to make ARC Energy Security the foundation of our nation’s future.

Nonsense

BLOCKING INFRASTRUCTURE: New England’s energy system just failed and the fix is the pipeline nobody wants to approve. Worth noting, this was not a January Polar Vortex with sub-zero temperatures. It was a warmer than normal spring in May.
Why it matters: Natural gas pipelines were full and oil was the only answer. But there’s a problem; a rather big problem, as Jack Prandelli points out on X.
Consider: 
  • This is a 20-year-old structural failure  and it’s getting worse, not better.
  • New England has the most ambitious decarbonization targets in the US.
  • It also just burned oil in a spring heat wave because climate advocates blocked the last pipeline expansion — and they most certainly will fight this one too.
Enbridge wants to build a pipeline and says it will result in $2 billion per year in savings by cutting peak oil burn and expensive spot LNG if its project is approved. The company transports about 30% of the oil and liquids produced in North America.
Project Beacon could be in place by 2030.
Several proposed expansions or new pipelines into New England were delayed or canceled after years of political opposition, environmental litigation and permitting hurdles. Projects like Constitution Pipeline and Northeast Energy Direct never got built.
You simply cannot decarbonize a grid that runs on oil at peak demand.
Every barrel burned because a gas pipe was full is a direct consequence of blocking the infrastructure that would have prevented it. That argument is getting harder to dismiss and the fix is obvious.
Bottom line: Additional natural gas capacity is needed in New England through new or existing pipeline expansion.

A look ahead

Nothing on the calendar next week. Enjoy the Memorial Day holiday.

Quote of the week

“Industry has shown for years that energy development in the National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska can be done responsibly.”
— Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum