President Donald Trump invoked the Defense Production Act (DPA) to direct federal support toward oil, gas, coal, and electric grid infrastructure through a series of presidential determinations on April 20, 2026.

The determinations come only weeks after the Trump administration directed Sable Offshore Corp. to restart the oil pipeline system serving the Santa Ynez Unit offshore oil field. In both cases, the administration cited national security risks tied to energy supply disruptions.

The determinations authorize the U.S. Department of Energy to deploy loans, purchase commitments, and other financial tools to accelerate project development and address what the administration described as “financing risks, regulatory delays, and market barriers.” The White House released five determinations covering oil production, natural gas and liquefied natural gas (LNG), coal-fired power, electric grid equipment, and “large-scale energy infrastructure.”

In the oil-focused determination, the administration states that domestic refining capacity, pipeline infrastructure, and fuel logistics are “essential to the national defense,” citing risks to military readiness from supply disruptions. A separate determination on coal states that it is necessary for baseload power supporting defense installations and energy-intensive technologies, including artificial intelligence.

The administration also identifies transformer shortages and transmission constraints as emerging vulnerabilities, stating that U.S. capacity “to design, produce, and deploy large-scale grid infrastructure, including transformers, high-voltage transmission components, advanced conductors, power electronics, substations, and grid-supporting manufacturing equipment, is dangerously limited.”

Assistant Press Secretary Taylor Rogers said the determinations “allow the Department of Energy to use funding secured in the One Big Beautiful Bill to strengthen our grid infrastructure and unleash reliable, affordable, secure energy.”

The April 20 actions expand on the administration’s earlier uses of emergency authorities to support domestic energy supply, including the directive to restart the pipeline system serving the Santa Ynez Unit offshore oil field.

The determinations also build on the administration’s January 2025 executive orders and memorandums that included the declaration of a national energy emergency.