During a House Energy and Commerce Committee hearing last month, Rep. Doris Matsui (D-CA) questioned Secretary of Energy Chris Wright about new supply chain sourcing requirements implemented by the Trump Administration and Congressional Republicans.
00:00The gentleman's time has expired, and the chair now recognizes the gentlelady from California's 7th district.
00:07Five minutes for questions.
00:09Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman, and thank you very much, Secretary Wright, for being here today.
00:15Now, strengthening American manufacturing and critical mineral supply chain are bipartisan priorities for this committee,
00:23and it's a top priority for this administration. Is that correct? Yes?
00:28I didn't hear everything you said, but reshoring manufacturing to this country is absolutely a top priority.
00:34All right. Great. Now, the 45X advanced manufacturing tax credit is crucial for unshoring battery and critical mineral supply chains.
00:44Do you agree? Yes? You have to think about it?
00:49Yeah, these are more complicated.
00:51Reshoring manufacturing will not dominantly be about tax credits or tax policy. It's more about regulatory environment.
00:57Okay.
00:58It's a much bigger factor, but it could be helpful in that.
01:01Yes. Okay. Now, the lithium mining company, Ioneer, which has received a nearly $1 billion loan from the Department of Energy,
01:09has said that repealing the advanced manufacturing credit would have a, quote, very direct impact.
01:16The chairman of Ford Motor Company has said, quote, we have built the business case around that.
01:21If it goes away, it puts in peril the plant and the jobs.
01:25So why did the House Republicans just pass a bill to kill the advanced manufacturing credit?
01:30Battery and critical minerals industry groups have called the new restrictions.
01:35Republicans big, ugly bill, quote, nearly impossible and effectively a repeal.
01:41Secretary Wright, this bill will require American companies to trace the supply chain of every screw, nut and boat
01:50to know information that they cannot obtain, including familial relationships of tangentially related parties, affiliates of lenders and more.
02:00Secretary Wright, you ran several companies. Do you seriously believe you can meet these requirements?
02:06Secretary Wright, I think if you want to resource the manufacturing sector of the United States,
02:13you don't want companies that are just pass through entities for products from abroad.
02:17So it's a tricky, it's a sticky subject, but it's, I don't think it's black and white.
02:21Well, could, okay, let's talk about, can Liberty Energy meet these requirements?
02:27Secretary Wright, do you have documentation that you have met these requirements or can meet these requirements?
02:40Secretary Wright, at Liberty Energy, we certainly were not involved with government subsidies of any kind,
02:46but I don't have a specific answer to your question.
02:49Secretary Wright, okay. Now I'll just say this is a repeal and it threatens hundreds of billions of dollars
02:55and tens of thousands of jobs in American manufacturing.
03:00If President truly believes about American manufacturing,
03:04I urge you to pick up the phone and stop the Senate from repealing this credit.
03:09Now, I want to turn to another priority I think we can agree on.
03:14Next generation geothermal energy has the potential to become a critical source of clean energy.
03:22Now, Secretary Wright, you've been very vocal supporter of geothermal.
03:28In fact, before joining DOE, you invested in FERVO, a leading geothermal company.
03:35Yes or no, is that accurate?
03:37That's accurate.
03:38Okay. And President Trump even included geothermal in his executive orders to boost domestic energy resources.
03:46Is that correct?
03:47That's correct.
03:48Okay.
03:49So why are congressional Republicans trying to kill the clean energy incentives that the geothermal industry is banking on?
03:57The CEO of FERVO, Tim Latimer, whose company you've invested millions in, was recently quoted saying,
04:05will we bring gigawatts on the grid this decade or will it be the next decade?
04:11That's what the tax credits mean.
04:13It doesn't get more straightforward than that.
04:16The Republicans' big ugly bill kills the new energy tax credits and that will kill next-gen technologies.
04:24Now, I know you agree with me because it was reported just yesterday that you called for maintaining the clean energy tax credits for geothermal at the Energy Imperatives Summit.
04:35Is that correct? Yes or no?
04:37That is correct.
04:38I think geothermal should be included with nuclear as emerging, reliable, dispatchable energy sources for those credits.
04:47Yes.
04:48So will you pick up the phone and push congressional Republicans to maintain the energy tax credits for geothermal?
04:55I have been doing just that.
04:56Okay.
04:57Thank you very much.
04:58And I would just have to say that, you know, the majority of new energy in the United States is renewable energy.
05:07And I think if we're serious about meeting the load growth from AI, then you need renewable energy.
05:13And I realize I'm running out of time and I...
