The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) shot back at California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) for making a misleading claim about his state’s renewable energy usage while calling the agency’s secretary an “oil shill.”
Newsom directed his ire at DOE Sec. Chris Wright on Wednesday after he criticized California’s energy policies during a Fox Business appearance, saying “They’ve destroyed their electricity grid” and pointing out that they went from producing 40 percent of U.S. oil to just two percent.
“They’ve done everything possible to make themselves more fragile to external shocks, to make energy more expensive, to drive the highest adjusted poverty rate of any [state] of the [nation], net out migration of the population of business,” Wright said to Mornings with Maria host Maria Bartiromo on Wednesday morning.
He continued, “I see Gavin Newsom bragging about his policies — like, where are those Americans that want expensive energy, that want dependence on foreign nations instead of their own state, or at least neighboring states in their own nation?”
The left-wing governor’s press office responded to Wright’s words on X, claiming that “California is now powered by 67% clean energy.”
“Enjoy your asthma and black lung, Oil Shill Chris,” Newsom’s account added:
The DOE delivered a fact-check in response, calling the governor’s claim incorrect:
“False. Just 15% of CA primary energy consumption comes from ‘renewables.’ More than 75% of CA energy consumption is from oil and gas — that’s higher than the national rate,” the department wrote back on X. “It is true that CA has embraced anti-hydrocarbon policies. The result? CA has the highest electricity rates in the continental U.S., the highest gas prices, and the highest adjusted poverty rate in America.”
“I wouldn’t be bragging if that was my state,” the DOE added.
The 67 percent figure brought up by Newsom refers only to retail electricity sales, according to a July 2025 press release from Newsom’s own administration.
In reality, California’s total primary energy consumption still remains dominated by oil and gas at over 75 percent, largely due to transportation fuels. That portion makes up about 40 percent of California’s total primary energy consumption, bringing overall fossil-fuel dependence to more than 75 percent.
Olivia Rondeau is a politics reporter for Breitbart News based in Washington, DC. Find her on X/Twitter and Instagram.
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