Tipsheet

Trump Is Bringing Historic Changes to the U.S. Energy Sector

Joseph Chalfant
Joseph Chalfant  |  March 10, 2026 8:30 PM

For the first time in over 40 years, the United States will be seriously expanding their energy production in two major ways. On Tuesday, it was announced that a new oil refinery and a new nuclear reactor would begin construction shortly.

America First Refining is set to open the first newly constructed U.S. oil refinery in 50 years, in a deal that President Donald Trump says is worth a historic $300 billion. The project will be opened at the Port of Brownsville, deep in the southern tip of Texas. The area has seen a growth in industry as of late, as SpaceX created their Starbase, Texas just miles down the highway.

The Nuclear Regulator Commission has also made history, with the Department of Energy announcing that the body had issued a construction permit for a first-of-its-kind reactor in Wyoming.

“This is the first construction permit ever issued by the NRC for a commercial non-light-water power reactor and represents a historic step toward deployment of a new generation of advanced reactors in the United States,” the Department of Energy said in a press release.

Non-nuclear construction on the site began back in 2024, and now construction is slated to begin on the reactor itself, which would be the first nuclear reactor constructed in the state of Wyoming.

Energy affordability and security continues to be a priority of the Trump administration, and is a front on which they have shown sweeping success.