The American Energy Secretary, Wright, visit the National Energy Technology Laboratory | News, sports, jobs

US Energy Secretary Chris Wright is aimed at employees and other visitors on Wednesday at the National Energy Technology Laboratory in Morgantown. (Photo by David Beard, special for news and sentinel)

Morgantown – The American Energy Secretary, Chris Wright, visited the National Energy Technology Laboratory campus on Wednesday as part of his current visit to the 17 laboratories of the Ministry of Energy.

Wright said that the measurement of budget reconciliation “One Big Beautiful Bill” is “essential for the world of energy in which I work.

“Energy concerns humans,” he said. “We want to improve people’s lives.”

This means more energy, energy at a lower cost, jobs and gaining the “arms race” for artificial intelligence, Wright said. According to Wright, the reforms of the bill on subsidies and penalties are essential to advance the system in the right direction.

Wright visited the installation of Morgantown – including the Center for Construction Computation Science and Engineering – met researchers and learned their projects.

US Energy Secretary Chris Wright is shown one of the current projects at the National Energy Technology Laboratory during his trip to Morgantown on Wednesday. (Photo by David Beard, special for news and sentinel)

NetL is devoted to research on fossil fuels, and coal and natural gas are the two largest sources of electricity in the world, he said.

Keep the king’s coal

“The things on which are worked here are great targets for great advantages for humanity,” said Wright.

In the PJM regional energy network at 13 states, many new services of services are intended for solar energy production projects, while none is for coal. However, Wright said that the future of “is long and brilliant” coal.

It represents a third of all the electricity produced on the planet – more than combined wind and solar – and it is available day and night, underlined the country’s energy tsar.

The day of the inauguration, January 20, was the first day of PJM winter request, and gas and coal provided 70% of power, wind and solar energy at only 3%. On Monday, in the sun and heat, wind and solar energy represented only 8%.

One of Wright’s priorities in his cabinet position is to end the continuous closures of power plants. Some should be withdrawn, he said, but many are always well in their expected lifespan and remain essential for a secure electrical network.

The growing need for AI data centers will increase electricity demand, he said.

“If you are going to add a lot of new abilities, the first thing you should do is stop reducing the capacity you have,” said Wright.

About 40 coal -fired power plants are expected to be closed this year.

“Our greatest impact will stop the closure of most of them,” he said.

Data space sharing

Wright spoke of allowing obstacles and the need to facilitate the construction of AI and data centers.

The 17 national laboratories have a lot of land and accept proposals so that the data centers are located on these properties – perhaps with cooperative agreements to allow laboratories to draw from the powers of calculating these centers, Wright said.

“You will see data centers built on ownership of the national laboratory,” he said.

The future is brilliant

“I think the future of energy here in Virginia-Western is super exciting,” concluded Wright.

The state has been an energy power through its history, and natural gas, natural gas liquids, oil and coal are the fastest growth sources around the world. And Virginia-Western is a user-friendly state with a advanced industry such as Form Energy, an installation of batteries in aerial in Weirton.

“I think that the perspectives of energy and industry in Virginia-Western are quite brilliant,” said Wright.