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Wright Gives Remarks on the Affordability and Reliability of the Electricity Grid, Feb. 6, 2026

February 6, 2026 · U.S. Department of Energy · 0:54:39

Embedded from the source channel — never re-uploaded. Watch on YouTube

What happened

Energy Secretary Chris Wright gave remarks on the affordability and reliability of the electricity grid, in the Department of Energy’s upload of the February 6, 2026 presentation, followed by questions from the press. Wright opened with his framing — energy focused on humans and on math — and built to his department’s analysis of the grid at peak demand during the recent winter storm, which he had previewed across 22 states in the telling.

Wright argued a grid must be designed for peak demand, when the lights and heat must stay on, and that generation added away from peak adds cost without adding capacity. At the storm’s peak moments, he said, natural gas generation ran 47 percent higher than a year earlier, coal 25 percent higher, nuclear delivered the same steady output as the year before, and wind produced 40 percent less electricity when it was needed most, with solar not meaningful in winter conditions — all as he stated the performance figures. He credited a gas system that worked without major transmission failures and coordination across government and industry, and then took questions, including on data centers and the grid.

Why it matters

The February 6 presentation is the analytical foundation of Wright’s Fern case — the peak-demand dataset he later summarized at CERAWeek — and his fullest statement of the design principle behind the administration’s grid policy: capacity counts only if it performs at the peak.

Scoreboard watch

Scoreboard watch: Secretary Wright’s Winter Storm Fern peak-demand figures, presented February 6, 2026 — natural gas +47 percent and coal +25 percent against the prior year at peak, wind −40 percent, nuclear steady, all as he stated them. Flagged for the scoreboard editor; no entry is published from this page.

Sources: U.S. Department of Energy, “Secretary Wright Gives Remarks on Affordability & Reliability of Electricity Grid - February 6, 2026” (official upload, embedded above); U.S. Department of Energy, “Secretary Wright Remarks on Affordability and Reliability of Electricity Grid - February 6, 2026” (official upload of the same February 6, 2026 presentation; remarks as delivered by Secretary Wright).