Wright: Politics and Policy Are Driving Up Electricity Costs, Not AI

I always say to people — I can say without a doubt — energy is the most important industry in the world by far, because every other industry wouldn’t be remotely close to what it is today without energy. Affordable, reliable, secure energy literally makes the world go ’round, allowing us to live long, healthy, opportunity-rich lives.

So, I’ve been frustrated most of my career to see politics — and not just looking at math and numbers — seep into energy, leading to tremendous destruction to the quality of life.

We spent 25 years not growing our electricity production very much, maybe 1 percent a year. Does that sound American? One percent a year growth in energy and electricity? And it’s electricity that’s going to drive artificial intelligence. Americans are frustrated with the rise in electricity prices. They went up a lot, but they shouldn’t have.

By far, our biggest source of electricity is natural gas. What’s the price of natural gas done over the last 20 years? It’s gone down like a stone.

The next biggest source of electricity is nuclear. What’s the price of uranium done? It’s gone down. What’s the price of coal done? It’s gone down.