The U.S. Energy Information Administration’s Annual Energy Outlook 2026 reveals new patterns in U.S. energy markets, explained Tristan Abbey in a special Stanford Energy Seminar. 

The EIA's chief also explored different scenarios for U.S. energy markets through 2050. “It’s not what we’re saying will happen,” Abbey stressed. “It’s what we’re saying could happen under certain circumstances.”

Watch the seminar

Speaker Tristan Abbey was sworn in on September 25, 2025, as the 11th administrator of the U.S. Energy Information Administration. Prior to joining the U.S. Department of Energy as a senior advisor in June 2025, Mr. Abbey served as a Distinguished Fellow at the Energy Policy Research Foundation, Inc., and a Senior Fellow at the National Center for Energy Analytics. Mr. Abbey previously served on staff at the U.S. Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, the National Security Council, the National Economic Council, and the U.S. Department of Energy. Prior to government service, Mr. Abbey worked as an associate at Clarium Capital Management LLC, a global macro hedge fund, and as a summer associate at the venture capital firm Founders Fund. Mr. Abbey holds degrees from Stanford University and Georgetown University. He lives with his family in Virginia.