Predictions are risky in this business. Get it right, and you look like a genius. Get it wrong, and your reputation is tarnished by the Monday morning quarterbacks. So, allow me to make some energy predictions, and who knows — maybe I will come back at this time next year to either eat humble pie or spike the football. Time will tell.
Prediction one: Blue state troubles
Even the Washington Post Editorial Board finally admitted that blue states are learning what markets, science, and 30 years of European trial have made abundantly clear: going green is very expensive and does not work. “It’s no coincidence that most of the states with the highest [electricity] prices also have the most ambitious decarbonization mandates” it wrote. Yes, indeed.
To that end, blue states are in deep trouble. Gov. Maura Healey (D., Mass.) is seeking reelection in Massachusetts as a champion of natural gas pipelines, yet four years ago she ran on stopping natural gas pipelines. Her GOP challenger has highlighted her gaslighting of the gas line.
In California, home to the highest overall energy prices in the continental United States, Gov. Gavin Newsom quietly extended oil and gas leases and leaned on the state’s regulatory agency to prevent the shuttering of oil refineries. Is this for the benefit of Californians suffering under an average price of gasoline north of four dollars or the Newsom 2028 presidential campaign? Again, time will tell.
Blue states politicians who campaigned on climate change hysteria and renewable energy promises have been unable to deliver results. They will pivot back to reliable fossil fuels, quietly, stealthily, as personal ambition and the desire for a political future will keep the states from going dark and their consumers from going cold.
Prediction two: Data center chaos
My organization authored a roadmap warning of the electricity demands of data centers months long before it was a talking point or political football. As the year ends, socialist Sen. Bernie Sanders (I., Vt.) is sophomorically demanding a moratorium on their construction, liberal Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D., Mass.) wants an “investigation,” and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D., N.Y.) is asking to “regulate” them. This is all knee-jerk political gibberish.
Yes, data centers demand electricity, and yes, we need to produce more, but these left-wing politicians lack the political will to support coal, natural gas, and nuclear power plants and other reliable producers of electricity. Data centers and electricity will be in the news regularly in 2026, and not one congressional Democrat will propose a plan. They will just make noise and feign outrage.
Prediction three: Climate litigation galore
Climate change activists had a rough year. No one hip or cool (sorry, Governor Newsom) attended the annual climate boondoggle summit COP30 in Brazil but the world laughed when eight miles of Amazon rainforest was bulldozed for climate change activism. Green groups lost their secretive stash of taxpayer money with the shuttering of United States Agency for International Development (USAID). No major hurricanes hit the continental USA anywhere close to the level predicted. Winter began colder and snowier than average. And their star activist Greta Thunberg jumped ship to the more politically en vogue “Free Palestine” movement.
Lawsuits are all they have left, and make no mistake: with their endless financial backing, they will use and abuse the courts.
Prepare for a year of incessant climate litigation. Democrat for-profit law firms like Sher Edling exist to make money for liberal causes. Even climate attorney David Bookbinder admitted that litigation is a way to ram through unpopular policies like “carbon tax” without that pesky thing called legislation. Curious for a party that constantly talks about “threats to our democracy” that the Democrats prefer to use the courts (and the regulatory agencies and bureaucracy) to thwart it.
Much more will happen in terms of pure energy. Oil may stagnate since $55 a barrel price does not incentivize increased production. Alaska’s $40 billion natural gas pipeline could begin preliminary construction, a huge win for the state and their governor, Mike Dunleavey. Wind and solar will no longer benefit from bottomless taxpayer subsidies, and that will cause more greater electricity chaos as governors and mayors scramble to explain price hikes; watch them and their PR teams conveniently pass the blame onto both utility companies and President Donald Trump.
There are no sure things in life except death and taxes, but one item left off this list but worthy of mention is the Trump administration’s ongoing commitment to producing more reliable energy right here at home.
Since declaring an energy emergency on day one of his administration and reversing the misguided regulatory regime of his predecessor, President Trump has been nothing but consistent. And as America continues its economic revival in the new year, common sense energy policy will remain a key driver of progress.
Predictions are risky. Come back next year and let’s see how I did.
Daniel Turner is the founder and executive director of Power The Future, a national nonprofit organization that advocates for American energy jobs. He also runs a sheep and cattle farm in rural Virginia. Contact him at daniel@powerthefuture.com and follow him on Twitter @DanielTurnerPTF.