Time Will Tell for the Energy Industry
Jason Price is a director of Industry Strategy and Client Development in West Monroe’s Energy and Utilities Practice. He is a graduate of the NYU Clean Energy program and host of Power Perspectives podcast on Energy Central.
Niki Shah is an experienced consultant in West Monroe’s Energy and Utilities Practice, advising energy and utility clients on climate action, regulatory, and infrastructure strategies.
Liam Benson is a senior consultant in West Monroe’s Energy and Utilities Practice. He advises utility clients with regulatory strategy and program management focused on improving reliability and accelerating the sustainable energy transition.
As we head into 2025, we examine the influence of President-Elect Donald Trump on the energy industry. Utility and regulatory leaders face numerous challenges in the coming year, many of which are ongoing issues that now face dramatic uncertainty under a new Administration, with the directness announced by President-Elect Trump in some decisions and complete ambiguity in others.
For example, pundits point to the end of electric vehicle tax credits, and yet the appointment of Elon Musk who fathered the electric vehicle would suggest a complete contradiction. President-Elect Trump has boasted reinventing government and pushing to deregulate industries, yet, by appointing Robert F. Kennedy Jr., to lead the Department of Health and Human Services, you intertwine a hard-nosed environmentalist who advocated stiff regulations and penalties on industrial polluters to overseeing our health system.
No matter the outcome of confirmations, the President-Elect appears cognizant to the interdependence of the economy and the environment.
Looking at industry trends through what we feel may depict a President Trump lens, we find that most decisions will remain business as usual while others are wild cards. We encourage you to use these themes to initiate conversations and collaborate with industry peers as you define priorities for the coming year.