HOUSTON — Energy Secretary Chris Wright arrived at the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo without a hat on Monday evening.
“I tried to get my boots, hat and jacket sent out from D.C., and we set it for one day delivery, four days beforehand, but it didn’t arrive,” Wright lamented to the Daily Caller News Foundation.
Wright made his way to the rodeo after an action-packed day one at the CERAWeek energy conference, where he delivered a punchy keynote speech laying out the Trump administration’s approach to energy policy and otherwise kept busy with meetings through the day. Wright attended the rodeo to demonstrate to everyday Americans that they are his priority as he pursues the energy dominance agenda alongside President Donald Trump, he explained to the DCNF.
“Look, rodeos are central to rural American culture. The center of the country, not our coastal culture,” Wright told the DCNF. “And this is the prime constituency of the president. This is the crowd I think is most anxious to see common sense return to government in the United States.”
One of Wright’s top tasks in his new gig will be attacking surging electricity costs driven in large part by the Biden administration’s aggressive regulation of reliable, inexpensive energy generation and subsidy deluge to boost intermittent green power sources. A 2024 analysis of Census Bureau data conducted by Lending Tree estimated that about 34% of Americans aged 18 or older had to pull back their spending or skimp on other necessary expenses to be able to pay their electricity bills at some point over the preceding 12 months; eight of the 11 states with the highest percentages recorded are located in the South.
“We’ve had over 20% price rise average in electricity prices in the United States over the Biden administration, with very little demand growth, only about 2% cumulative demand growth,” Wright told the DCNF. “Now we have rapid demand growth, and that course we were on is a train wreck.”
And while Democrats’ policies may have contributed to the surging electricity prices hitting everyday, inflation-weary Americans — like many of those in attendance for the rodeo — Wright said that the Trump administration is far more interested in facilitating prosperity than playing partisan politics. One of the guiding principles of Wright’s philosophy is that affordable energy is a vital economic resource and, accordingly, one of the essential ingredients for human flourishing.
“This president got elected to lower costs and give energy access to all Americans, red state, blue state, Republicans, Democrats, independents. He doesn’t care,” Wright told the DCNF. “President Trump’s constituency is the American people, and it’s just simply wrong that so many millions have paid incredibly high prices for heating, for electricity and are not able to have new manufacturing jobs built in their region. I think President Trump says, ‘enough is enough.’” (RELATED: ‘That Is Hilarious’: Energy Secretary Cackles When Asked About Rising Gasoline Prices)
Energy Secretary Chris Wright shakes hands with DJ Daniel ahead of the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo at NRG Stadium on March 10, 2025. (Photo via Daily Caller News Foundation)
As rodeo fans filed into the stadium and walked around the grounds, Wright and his entourage meandered through a massive market inside an on-site warehouse, trying on hats and sizing up boots as nearby vendors steamed hat brims and served up chicken sandwiches.
Wright managed to fit into the crowd with brown boots, blue jeans, a tucked-in white shirt and a nondescript light jacket. The only missing piece was the classic cowboy hat, which he addressed by purchasing one from a storefront in the warehouse.
The new hat was a good purchase for Wright given that he would be leading the “grand entry,” or the ceremony that marks the beginning of the rodeo, in just a few moments’ time. While Wright and other special guests prepared backstage for the grand entry, the energy secretary bumped into one of America’s newest and most prominent Secret Service agents, DJ Daniel. The 13 year-old cancer survivor and aspiring law enforcement officer was recognized by President Donald Trump during the March 4 address to Congress.
Wright mounted his horse and trotted out to the rodeo infield to lead the grand entry, beaming and tipping his hat to applauding onlookers in the stands as the American flag waved proudly in the hands of another rider leading the column with him.
“These are my people,” Wright told the DCNF.
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