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Wright Tours West Virginia Energy Sites and Discusses Coal, Grid and Hydrogen Review on Pittsburgh Television

June 26, 2025 · U.S. Department of Energy · 0:02:09

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What happened

Energy Secretary Chris Wright visited the National Energy Technology Laboratory in Morgantown, West Virginia, and the Longview Power Plant in Maidsville, according to the Department of Energy’s upload of the Pittsburgh Action News 4 report on the June 25, 2025 tour. In a one-on-one interview during the visit, Wright said the administration was watching oil prices amid Middle East tensions and predicted less volatility and meaningfully lower prices on average during the administration.

Wright said the department was focused at home on unlocking coal and natural gas resources. Asked about hydrogen hub plans — the report noted a prior $7 million federal feasibility award covering areas including Morgantown — Wright said the plans were not scrapped but would be thoroughly reviewed, saying the department does not want to fund bridges to nowhere or spend taxpayer money on projects people would not voluntarily use, and that all projects were receiving a careful business review.

As the region faced its hottest stretch of the year, Wright said expanding the electrical grid starts with stopping closures of affordable, reliable coal plants, then building new energy sources and power plants, making it easier to build in America, as he put it.

Why it matters

The local-news segment captures the department’s project-review doctrine applied on the ground — hydrogen hubs included — during a secretary’s tour of the federal energy laboratory and a coal plant in Appalachia.

Sources: U.S. Department of Energy, “Secretary Wright Joins Pittsburgh’s Action News 4 - June 25, 2025”, 2025-06-26 (official upload, embedded above; published 2025-06-26). Transcript via Supadata (private research store, paraphrased and attributed, not republished). All figures and characterizations as stated by the speakers.