On April 8, 2025, President Donald Trump signed two executive orders declaring a National Energy Emergency, citing surging electricity demand and weaknesses in the aging U.S. electric grid.

The first order, "Strengthening the Reliability and Security of the U.S. Electric Grid," gives the Department of Energy (DOE) emergency authority to prevent blackouts and fast-track power plant operations. It also directs the DOE to create a national method for assessing grid capacity and identifying critical energy assets.

Central to the order is concern over the state of the country's transformer infrastructure. More than 80 million transformers, many over four decades old, support the nation's power distribution. The order highlights these aging components as a vulnerability and calls for federal evaluation to ensure system resilience during peak demand.

The second order, "Protecting American Energy from State Overreach," targets state-level climate regulations. It instructs the Attorney General to challenge laws in states like California, New York, and Vermont that restrict fossil fuel use or delay permits.

These actions support the administration's "Energy Dominance" policy, promoting coal, gas, nuclear, and hydropower to meet growing electricity needs driven by AI data centers and manufacturing.

Source: whitehouse.gov