Energy Dept’s Haustveit at Louisiana Summit: ‘More reliable energy’ needed

By Alton Wallace
The Center Square

The U.S. will need more reliable energy sources than ever before and the Trump administration will deliver, an assistant secretary at the U.S. Department of Energy said at a summit Thursday.

The Louisiana Energy Security Summit 2025 in New Orleans featured U.S. Sen. Bill Cassidy along with keynote speaker Kyle Haustveit and brought 70 thought leaders from around the country to discuss the state’s role in advancing U.S. energy dominance in the face of evolving global challenges.

“The president and our administration are determined to unleash greater energy production than ever before, utilizing every reliable energy source at our disposal,” said Haustveit, assistant secretary for Fossil Energy Department Management in the U.S. Department of Energy.

“And as we do this, we will unleash unparalleled prosperity across our nation, including this region,” said Haustveit, who addressed the summit by video because of the federal government shutdown.

Haustveit oversees Fossil Energy and National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL) programs and manages a $5 billion research development portfolio that includes coal, oil, natural gas and critical minerals with the objective of advancing affordable and reliable energy solutions, according to the Department of Energy.

Haustveit said the previous administration pursued an anti-energy policy. “It restrained both energy production and the building of energy infrastructure such as natural gas pipelines.”

America needs both more energy and more energy diversity, said Haustveit, a North Dakota native whose family has worked in the energy industry for three generations.

“Thanks to the accelerating march of innovation and progress, including the president’s manufacturing revival and the coming rise in AI data center growth, a tidal wave of energy demand is headed our way and is about to wash over this nation and indeed the world,” Haustveit said.

Haustveit said the Energy Department’s Florence Berkeley National Lab estimated last year that data center demand for energy will double or triple by 2028. “The kind of energy we will need for these data centers will be rock solid energy that delivers 24-7 reliability. In other words, if we want to power these data centers and reindustrialize our country, we not only need more energy supply, we also need more energy diversity.,” said Haustveit.

“The United States needs to develop the most reliable energy sources on the planet, including coal and nuclear, oil and natural gas,” said Haustveit. “Without more energy and without more reliable energy, America will face an energy disaster with affordability and reliability issues unlike anything we’ve experienced since the advent of electricity,” he said.

Haustveit said Secretary of Energy Chris Wright has responded to the crisis by issuing eight emergency orders pursuant to Section 202c of the Federal Powers Act that have strengthened grid reliability during peak demand to prevent power outages and saved consumers at least $4.7 million in energy costs.

“We’re looking for stakeholder input on how best to utilize our funding programs and authorities to rapidly expand energy generation and transmission grid capacity,” the assistant secretary said. “As we improve our grid, we are committed to loading it with record supplies of reliable energy, including coal, nuclear and natural gas. Given the AI revolution alone and the coming surge in consumption, there is clearly no alternative to the pro energy course we are taking,” said Haustveit.

Haustveit said Energy Department leadership team has identified 16 potential sites at national labs and other DOE-owned land for AI data center development.

“We support removing regulations that constrain AI development, and we are unleashing DOE resources and the innovation of our national labs to ensure we have the resources to power the AI revolution. But again, none of this can be sustained without an unprecedented surge in energy supply,” said Haustveit.

Haustveit said the department is laser focused on fulfilling the president’s mandates on nuclear energy. He said the focus is on enabling the rapid deployment and export of next generation nuclear technology, bringing down operating costs for existing reactors, expanding the application of nuclear energy beyond electricity to support manufacturing and industry, strengthening nuclear fuel infrastructure, restarting reactors that were prematurely closed, and cutting regulations that have stifled the industry.

“Streamlining the permitting process will ensure nuclear developers get steel in the ground faster,” Hustveit said. “As vice chair of the new National Energy Dominance Council, Secretary Wright is working closely with the chair, Interior Secretary [Doug] Burgum, and other council members to unleash American energy through permitting reform. Make no mistake, the prior administration’s war on coal and neglect of nuclear energy are over,” he said.

Haustveit said the administration will also “unleash” another base load resource, natural gas.

“We are on the cusp of an LNG revolution that will fill the world with our LNG bounty. Several of the LNG export authorizations processed during the first Trump administration have now become actual exports, including the Plaquemines LNG project right here in Louisiana that has just come online,” said Haustveit.

The 2025 Louisiana Energy Security Summit, hosted by the American Council for Capital Formation (ACCF), drew an estimated 450 attendees.