Overview
- Interior Secretary Doug Burgum, testifying Wednesday before the House Natural Resources Committee on President Donald Trump’s 2027 Interior budget, said Nevada solar projects “produce zero electricity” after sunset and warned the grid is at risk from intermittent power.
- Democratic Representative Jared Huffman cut in to note the solution is energy storage, asking to enter into the record “this amazing new technology” called a battery.
- Burgum argued the country has “over-rotated” toward intermittent generation and claimed most solar components do not come from the United States but from China.
- The exchange drew swift coverage and ridicule from outlets that said Burgum ignored well-established battery storage, while also pointing out that he controls approvals for utility-scale solar on federal land.
- The dispute highlights a practical point about modern grids, since large solar plants increasingly pair panels with big batteries that charge during the day and deliver power after sunset, a setup that factors into Interior’s decisions on public-lands projects.