DOE ends billions in clean-energy awards after Vought post
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Energy Department headquarters in Washington. Photo: J. David Ake/Getty Images
The Energy Department said Wednesday night it's terminating $7.56 billion worth of financial awards that support 223 projects funded via several of its clean-energy offices.
Why it matters: It's among the starkest reversals of Biden-era DOE financial support for low-carbon energy and manufacturing initiatives.
- The department didn't list projects. But its announcement came hours after White House budget chief Russ Vought posted on X that "Nearly $8 billion in Green New Scam funding to fuel the Left's climate agenda is being cancelled."
The intrigue: "The projects are in the following states: CA, CO, CT, DE, HI, IL, MD, MA, MN, NH, NJ, NM, NY, OR, VT, WA," Vought added.
- Those states also all voted for Kamala Harris in 2024, have Democratic Senate delegations, and most have Democratic governors.
- California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) said DOE canceled up to $1.2 billion in funding for the Alliance for Renewable Clean Hydrogen Energy Systems (ARCHES), the state's hydrogen hub.
- "In Trump's America, energy policy is set by the highest bidder, economics and common sense be damned," Newsom said in a statement.
Bloomberg News reported that other cancellations included renewable projects as well as another hydrogen hub in the Pacific Northwest set to span parts of Washington, Oregon, and Montana, according to an unnamed administration official.
Driving the news: The pullback covers projects via the offices of Clean Energy Demonstrations, Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, Grid Deployment, Manufacturing and Energy Supply Chains, Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy and Fossil Energy.
- "DOE determined that these projects did not adequately advance the nation's energy needs, were not economically viable, and would not provide a positive return on investment of taxpayer dollars," the agency said.
- DOE alleged that many projects were rushed, stating that of 321 financial specific awards terminated, 26% were awarded between Election Day and Inauguration Day.
The other side: Environmentalists, clean energy advocates and many Democrats say the Trump administration is hamstringing U.S. efforts to fight climate change — and surrendering U.S. competitiveness in emerging clean tech sectors.
- "This administration has had plans in the works for months to cancel critical energy projects, and now they are illegally taking action to kill jobs and raise people's energy bills," Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.), the Senate Appropriations Committee's top Democrat, said in a statement after Vought's post.
What we're watching: Award recipients have 30 days to appeal the decisions, DOE said.
- "Some of the projects included in this announcement have already begun that process," it said.
Editor's note: This story has been updated with comments from Gov. Gavin Newsom and news about the Pacific Northwest project.
