How Americans will power their lives for years to come is an issue that divides them. From fossil fuels to wind and solar, liquefied natural gas to nuclear power, debates over energy sources dominate politics.
“I don’t say this to be funny,” said Neil Chatterjee, who served as chairman of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission under the Trump administration. “To me, the solution is to make energy policy boring again.”
At the tail end of former President Donald Trump’s term, Chatterjee was demoted from his position as chairman. He has said he believed it was because of his stance on clean energy.
“I’m a big believer in innovation and markets, and I would like to see more and more conservatives embrace this and not cede the field to the other side,” Chatterjee said. “The energy transition could be the single greatest monetary opportunity of our lifetime.”
Prior to his position as the nation’s top energy regulator, Chatterjee was the principal energy policy adviser to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky.
When asked about his position on energy independence, a term with an oft-disputed meaning, Chatterjee said his real focus is on energy security and ensuring that the energy grid in the United States remains reliable.
“We know that we can have electricity when we need it, we can fuel our vehicles when we need it, we have our basic energy needs met,” he said. “That is not the case everywhere in the world and if we’re not smart in how we proceed from a policy perspective in the U.S., it might not always be the case here at home.”
In an interview with Straight Arrow News, Chatterjee identified the red flags he sees when it comes to U.S. energy policy and how to prevent the U.S. from becoming reliant on China for energy. Chatterjee also discussed the Biden administration’s conflicting energy messaging and how it disrupts investment, along with who is to blame for high gas prices.