The Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee (ENR) held hearings Apr. 30 to consider President Donald Trump’s nominee to lead the US Energy Information Administration (EIA), moving Tristan Abbey closer to confirmation.
If confirmed, Abbey, a former staffer of the Senate ENR, would head the 350-employee group that compiles data and analysis of energy production, consumption, and storage.
EIA faces losing 100 staffers to sweeping government layoffs, resignations, and buyouts, sources say, leaving energy experts worried about the fate and quality of closely watched reports, including weekly petroleum and natural gas data that often move the market.
“EIA’s task is essential to making markets work,” said Frank Maisano, senior principal with law and government relations firm Bracewell. He expressed concern that steep staff cuts could threaten EIA’s data.
EIA, an independent agency, is respected globally, Maisano noted, with its data used and trusted by traders, companies, and nearly all sectors of the energy industry. “I’m sure there are ways to pare down, but if you want to be energy dominant, you have to have an EIA,” he said.
EIA data and reports related to renewable energy, greenhouse gas emissions, and any movement away from fossil fuels are at particular risk since the Trump administration has targeted those areas for budget and staff cuts government wide, sources said.
Abbey, originally from Florida, worked on energy issues for the National Security Council during the first Trump administration.
ENR and the full Senate must confirm Abbey before he can lead EIA.
