In recent years, especially under the Biden administration, there has been an unprecedented attack on the supply of reliable and affordable energy, from reducing oil and gas lease sales to the administration’s efforts to shift from reliable electricity sources to renewable energy sources. The partisan Inflation Reduction Act is a central piece of the harmful electrification effort that will undermine the electricity grid. If all of this was not bad enough, there are also governmental efforts to limit Americans from using reliable and affordable energy, such as efforts to severely limit the availability of gas-powered vehicles and bans on natural gas appliances.
Ensuring abundant, reliable, and affordable energy is a must, as is consumer freedom when it comes to energy. The Competitive Enterprise Institute advocates for policies to keep energy abundant, affordable, and competitive. Carbon fuels—coal, natural gas, and oil—provide about 80 percent of U.S. and global energy. They are the world’s dominant energy sources because, in most markets, they beat the alternatives in both cost and performance.
CEI is leading efforts to defend the personal energy choices of Americans. We advocate for policies that will stop government at all levels from banning or restricting what good and services Americans can choose to best meet their needs.
For decades, CEI has opposed regulatory overreach from the Environmental Protection Agency and other federal agencies that put undue costs on energy industries and consumers. These include President Biden’s new power plant rule, the “Blackout Plan,” which would ignore the major questions problems detailed in West Virginia v. EPA, increase consumer electricity prices, and threaten grid reliability. CEI’s research and policy proposals have been instrumental on energy issues.
Featured Posts

Blog
Dispelling the desperate myths on IRA subsidies for wind and solar
The budget reconciliation process continues, as the One Big Beautiful Bill Act just passed the Senate and is headed back to the House. …

Blog
Regulatory hurdles could jeopardize growth of nuclear energy
Since the late 1800s, fossil fuels have been the energy source of the highest economic utility in driving innovation and prosperity.

News Release
CEI releases new report detailing how states are improving environmental permitting policies
Today, the Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI) released a new report detailing how states across the country are improving their environmental permitting systems to become…
Search Posts
News Release
Energy Commission Expands California’s Crisis
Washington, DC, July 9, 2001— After only a few weeks of expanded price caps, what was once the California energy crisis is already spreading…
Study
California’s Power Market: “Gray” Days Ahead?
The Golden State has power problems; rolling blackouts began yesterday. Many, including Governor Gray Davis, Senator Dianne Feinstein, and several consumer groups, blame the state’s…
Comment
Comments Of The Competitive Enterprise Institute On The Department Of Energy’s Proposed Conservation Standards For Clothes Washers
I. SUMMARY The proposed clothes washer energy conservation standards will impose a substantial and unnecessary burden on American consumers. These proposed rules are in violation…
Op-Eds
Got a Computer? More Power To You: Mills/Huber Op-ed in Wall Street Journal
It takes electrons to move bits Published in the Wall Street Journal September 6, 2000 It takes electrons to move bits. The…
Study
Electricity Deregulation: Wired or Tangled in the 106th Congress’s Committees?
When policymakers embark upon restructuring as opposed to deregulating a heavily regulated industry, they risk creating more regulation than existed before. This is…
Study
Electricity Reform in Colorado: A Resource Guide for Citizens & Policymakers
Executive Summary ·Deregulation of telecommunications, natural gas, and transportation saved American consumers billions of dollars, created new choices among sellers and spurred numerous…
Study
The Deadly Effects of Fuel Economy Standards: CAFE’s Lethal Impact on Auto Safety
Full Document Available in PDF…
Study
Electric Chairmen Can Throw Switch on Phony Deregulation
View Full Document as PDF The local electric power monopoly is the only game in town for consumers, something reformers have…
Study
Electric Avenues: Why “Open Access” Can’t Compete
Full Document Available in PDF The regulation of electricity markets…
News Release
Clinton Electricity “Deregulation” Re-Regulates Industry
Washington, DC, March 25, 1998 — “If the Clinton administration’s ‘Comprehensive Electricity Competition Plan’ is to deregulate electricity, government oversight of the power industry…
News Release
Free-Market Think Tank Enters Electric Power Business
The Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI), a free market think tank, today announced its entry into the electric power market and demanded that utilities open…
Study
CAFE’s “Smashing Success”: The Deadly Effects of Auto Fuel Economy Standards, Current & Proposed
Full Document Available in PDF…
Op-Eds
Bring competitive power to the people
On Jan. 26, the Michigan Public Service Commission approved a contract which would allow Wisconsin Public Power Co. to provide electricity to the Copper…
Study
The Economic Fallacies of Demand-Side Management
Full Document Available in PDF Recent years have seen the emergence of…
Staff & Scholars

Sam Kazman
Counsel Emeritus
- Antitrust
- Automobiles and Roads
- Banking and Finance

Paige Lambermont
Research Fellow
- Capitalism and Free Enterprise
- Energy
- Energy and Environment

Marlo Lewis, Jr.
Senior Fellow
- Climate
- Energy
- Energy and Environment

Ben Lieberman
Senior Fellow
- Climate
- Consumer Freedom
- Energy

Jacob Tomasulo
Policy Analyst
- Climate
- Energy
- Energy and Environment