Critical energy agency may face privatization

2025-01-8

The federal agency that collects data about how power plants generate electricity, the fuel they use and how much it costs could be a target for budget cutters or privatization in the upcoming Donald Trump administration, federal budget and other records show.

During Trump’s first term in office between 2017 and 2021, he attempted to cut the budget of the Energy Information Administration every year but was rebuffed by Congress, which restored the cuts.

Project 2025, a policy document created by groups aligned with Trump, called EIA a valuable agency but also added that “there are some who think that EIA should be privatized.

“The cost savings to taxpayers should be considered,” Project 2025 said. “On the other hand, EIA has generally demonstrated neutral data presentation that is helpful to policymakers and the private sector.”

A division of the Energy Department, EIA provides data that have been used by analysts challenging the high cost of fuel used by the Ohio Valley Electric Corp. (OVEC) and other utilities.

An audit of OVEC’s operations conducted for the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio redacted the cost and suppliers of the coal used by the company. That information, however, was already available through EIA reports and was used by analysts challenging OVEC’s high costs for coal.

Checks & Balances Project reported in November 2023 that OVEC overpaid Resource Fuels, a coal supplier owned by a donor to the fund used to bribe a former Ohio House speaker, by more than $12 million in 2020. That information came from EIA reports.

Attempted cuts

In its first budget submitted in 2017, the Trump administration attempted to cut EIA’s budget from $120 million to $115 million. A Republican Congress restored the budget back to $120 million.

That pattern continued throughout Trump’s term.

In 2018, Trump wanted to cut the agency budget to $115.035 million, a 5.7 percent decrease, but Congress boosted spending to $125 million. The following year, the Trump administration sought a 5.6 percent cut in EIA’s budget to $118 million.

Congress restored the budget to $126.8 million.

Trump’s final budget proposal in February 2020 proposed the only increase during his first term — $128.710 million, a 1.51 percent increase.

What EIA does
The agency was created in 1977 with the Energy Department when the nation was reeling from “the energy crisis of the 1970s,” according to a 2020 report by the Congressional Research Service.

“At the time, many lawmakers felt a lack of federal energy data had contributed to the crisis and limited policymaking in response,” the CRS report said.

EIA has considerable freedom compared to many federal agencies. Its director doesn’t need approval from anyone in the Energy Department for data collection, analysis, or projections.

Also, energy companies are required by law to submit data to EIA for analysis and distribution.

Ray Locker is the executive director for Checks & Balances Project, an investigative watchdog blog holding government officials, lobbyists, and corporate management accountable to the public. Funding for C&BP is provided by Renew American Prosperity and individual donors.