The statement is a direct quotation from U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright describing projected economic impacts (job creation, wage increases, tax revenue) of an energy project in southern Ohio. As a prediction/opinion about future outcomes rather than a verifiable factual claim about current or past conditions, it cannot be definitively proven true or false at the time it was made. However, since the statement itself is accurately reported as what he said (and contains no internally contradictory or objectively false factual assertions), it is treated as TRUE in terms of being his stated position.

Chris Wright was nominated to be Secretary of Energy in late 2024 and confirmed in early 2025, but there is no verifiable record of him making the quoted statement about thousands/tens of thousands of jobs in southern Ohio on May 2, 2026. The quote appears to be fabricated or misattributed.

The claim that a single project will instantly create "thousands and, pretty quickly, tens of thousands of jobs" in southern Ohio is not supported by any credible economic or labor data; such projections are typically far higher than realistic short‑term job creation estimates.

The statement makes specific claims about future job creation, wage increases, and tax revenue in southern Ohio for May 2026, which cannot be verified as factual since these are predictions about future events that have not yet occurred.