The Way I Heard It with Mike Rowe 508: Toby Rice—Got Gas?
4 snips
Oct 20, 2026 
Toby Rice, CEO of EQT and former chimney sweep and oilfield worker, makes the case for American energy abundance. He discusses AI’s soaring power demands, data-center concerns, energy poverty, China’s energy advantage, and why labor, energy, and intelligence drive prosperity. Rice also recounts three terrifying workplace near-misses and explains how Energy Corps aims to bring reliable power to the world’s poorest communities.
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AI Growth Depends On Building Energy Infrastructure
- AI and data-center growth could increase natural-gas demand by 20–40%, requiring power plants, LNG facilities, and hundreds of thousands of workers.
- The country may need capacity equivalent to 20 New York cities within five years.
Energy Abundance Is Also National Security
- Energy abundance supports affordability, national security, and technological leadership simultaneously.
- Shale transformed America from importing energy at enormous cost into the world’s largest energy producer.
The Floor Hand Who Became A CEO
- Toby Rice began as a $9-per-hour floor hand, wrenching rods and pulling pipe in West Texas.
- Those field lessons later shaped his leadership philosophy, including EQT’s rule to “respect the wrench.”
