Prior to his nomination to the post of secretary of energy, Nobel Prize winner Steven Chu, then the director of Lawrence Berkeley National Lab and also professor of physics and molecular and cell biology at the University of California, was a member of the Council on Competitiveness's Energy Security, Innovation and Sustainability Initiative Steering Committee. The Council on Competitiveness is a group of CEOs, university presidents, and labor leaders devoted to America's prosperity. As a committee member, Chu helped to draft A 100-Day Energy Action Plan for the 44th President of the United States.

The initiative was launched in July 2007 “with the belief that the crucial role of private sector demand in driving energy system transformation has gone largely unrecognized and unaddressed in prior policy initiatives.” Moreover, in line with the idea of free market statism, the initiative asserted, “The government has the power to greatly strengthen the business case for investment and innovation in sustainable energy solutions.” Among the recommendations put forward for the incoming president was to “jumpstart Energy Infrastructure Investments” by turning the U.S. foreign policy model discussed previously inward to the domestic economy.