Gallego’s Energy Committee plans are heavy on nuclear

By Timothy Cama | 01/31/2025 06:42 AM EST

The new Arizona senator has previously championed water, national parks and federal land while in the House.

Sen. Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.) at a hearing for Kristi Noem, nominee for secretary of Homeland Security, on Jan. 17.

Sen. Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.) at a hearing in January. He is seeking to raise his profile on energy issues. Ben Curtis/AP

Ruben Gallego could take the reins as one of the Senate’s leading nuclear energy champions.

The Arizona Democrat, fresh off a close electoral victory to succeed former Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, an independent, snagged a spot on the Energy and Natural Resources Committee.

The panel intersects with a range of policy areas important to Arizona, such as water, national parks and federal land. But the energy side of the committee’s responsibilities was what Gallego brought up first up in an interview with POLITICO’s E&E News.

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“We have a really strong economy, we have people moving to Arizona, and then we also have the growth of [artificial intelligence]. And those three things are really driving our energy demand,” Gallego said.

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