MONTHLY ENERGY WATCH – March 2026
We’re pleased to introduce a new IADC advocacy update: Monthly Energy Watch.
Each month, IADC’s Vice President of Policy, Joe Lillis, will share key topics he’s monitoring on Capitol Hill to help keep you informed.
Joe serves as YOUR representative in Washington, DC. Contact him directly anytime with questions or for more information at Joe.Lillis@IADC.org or (202) 256-2656.
Here is what Joe is hearing on the Hill for March 2026!
Minimal mention of energy issues in President Trump’s State of the Union
President Donald Trump was sparse but decisive on energy messaging and his administration’s energy agenda during his 2026 State of the Union address delivered in February, the longest address in modern history. He discussed a new initiative to have tech companies mitigate the rise of electricity prices, which rose 7.1 percent from December 2024 to December 2025, according to the US Energy Information Administration. Analysts have said an aging grid and data center demand are factors in the rise.
In between boasts about the economy, immigration enforcement, and legislative achievements, Trump found time to highlight the United States’ booming fossil fuel production and falling gasoline prices. He also formally announced a new “ratepayer protection pledge” program that he described as an “obligation” for major tech companies to provide their own power for the energy-hungry data centers fueling the artificial intelligence boom.
The initiative appears to be designed to pressure tech giants to bear the burden of surging electricity prices and to reduce the load on the country’s aging grid as energy demand soars and affordability becomes an increasingly important issue ahead of this year’s midterm elections.
It represents one of the most aggressive steps the administration has taken to try to lower energy costs. “We have an old grid; it could never handle the kind of numbers, the amount of electricity, that’s needed,” Trump said. “So, I’m telling companies they can build their own plant; they’re gonna produce their own electricity.”
Texas approves data centers run on gas power
Texas regulators recently approved a fleet of 93 gas-powered turbines to support a project aiming to be the country’s largest data center complex.
The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality’s approval gives Fermi America, a data center developer co-founded by former Energy Secretary Rick Perry and Texas energy investor Toby Neugebauer, the green light to install more than 5 gigawatts (GW) of gas power on its site outside of Amarillo.
On its own, that would make Fermi’s Project Matador larger than any existing fossil fuel plant in the country, with the capacity to power more than 1.2 million homes on the main Texas grid. The turbines would all run on “pipeline quality natural gas,” according to the application. Fermi says it is still on pace to deliver its first gigawatt of gas power online by the end of this year. Fermi also plans to build four nuclear reactors, solar power, and battery storage to create an 11-GW energy and computing complex.
“When it comes to responsible, scalable energy production, it’s no surprise that Texas is leading the way,” Neugebauer said in a statement. The company added that it has locked up equipment, putting it in position to build off-grid power quickly.
By building off the grid, Fermi says it can keep costs down for local ratepayers and reduce strain on the main Texas grid. It also mirrors the model set by President Donald Trump, who said in his recent State of the Union address that he wants data centers to “produce their own electricity.”
Environmental Protection Agency actions aim to expand coal use
Federal initiatives to boost the coal industry culminated in a recent Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) decision to roll back pollution standards on mercury and other air toxins released by coal-fired power plants.
EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin recently announced the finalization of a rule to repeal the 2024 Mercury and Air Toxics Standards, which restricted coal plants’ emissions of such toxins and implemented other pollution monitoring requirements.
The EPA’s loosening of restrictions on coal-fired power is just the latest effort from the Trump administration to expand the production and use of fossil fuels in the US.
“The Biden-Harris Administration’s anti-coal regulations sought to regulate out of existence this vital sector of our energy economy. If implemented, these actions would have destroyed reliable American energy,” Zeldin said in a statement. “The Trump EPA knows that we can grow the economy, enhance baseload power, and protect human health and the environment all at the same time. It is not a binary choice and never should have been.”
US House of Representatives passes bill to ease energy efficiency on appliances
The House just passed a bill that would loosen requirements that the Energy Department periodically update appliance efficiency standards, as part of a broader push to roll back Biden-administration regulations.
H.R. 4626, the Home Appliance Protection and Affordability Act, passed by a vote of 217-190, with seven Democrats joining all the Republicans to back the measure. The bill would amend a 1975 law enacted in the wake of the 1970s energy crisis and subsequently amended to require energy conservation standards for multiple products. The legislation would remove requirements that the Energy Department review, and, if necessary, update the standards every six years and set minimum energy and water savings that new standards must meet.
The bill would prohibit the Energy Department from finalizing any conservation standard that bans products based on the type of fuel they use, such as natural gas stoves. It would also require the department to review standards two years after finalization and potentially revoke them if they are determined not to be technologically feasible or economically justified.
Republican supporters said that the energy conservation standards finalized by the Biden administration were unworkable and would drive up the initial costs of appliances without providing significant energy or water savings. “These regulations were neither based on what consumers need nor focused on affordability. They were rooted in ambitious climate goals,” said House Energy and Commerce Chairman Brett Guthrie.
President Trump says Japan will invest $36 billion in US energy projects
President Donald Trump recently announced that Japan would invest $36 billion in three energy and manufacturing projects in the United States, the first set of investments under the trade deal reached between the two countries last year.
Japan is set to provide the capital for a massive 9.2-gigawatt gas power plant in Ohio, a deepwater crude oil export terminal in Texas, and a Georgia plant producing synthetic industrial diamond grit, which is used in advanced manufacturing.
The gas-fired power plant near Portsmouth, Ohio, will be developed by SB Energy, a subsidiary of SoftBank, at a cost of $33 billion, according to a Trump administration official. When constructed, it would represent the largest gas-fired power plant in the United States. Japan is also investing $2.1 billion in Texas GulfLink, a deepwater crude oil export facility on the Gulf Coast led by Sentinel Midstream, and $600 million in the Georgia diamond facility operated by Element Six.
The Transportation Department approved a license for Texas GulfLink in February, which it said would be able to export up to 1 million barrels of crude oil per day and accommodate modern supertankers.
The money comes from Japan’s pledge to invest $550 billion in the US by 2028, a cornerstone of the trade agreement between the two countries that helped lower the tariffs on Japanese goods to 15 percent.
