The DOE logo on a smartphone. Photo: Jaque Silva/NurPhoto via Getty Images
Invoices worth tens of millions of dollars are piling up at DOE's Office of Clean Energy Demonstrations, deepening some employees' fears that the Trump administration seeks to dismantle existing programs.
Why it matters: The freeze of already-obligated IRA and infrastructure law funding complicates the all-of-the-above bipartisan message of DOE nominee Chris Wright, who's expected to easily win Senate confirmation Monday.
- OCED, created by the infrastructure law, oversees a $27 billion portfolio that includes hydrogen, carbon capture, industrial decarbonization, advanced nuclear, energy storage and projects in rural and remote communities.
Several department employees who spoke to Axios on condition of anonymity believe OCED's overseers are looking for the poorest projects in its portfolio to give Wright options to eliminate or reprogram funding for President Trump's priorities.
- Employees are "crossing our fingers that [Wright] will come in with a more level head and some clear direction," one DOE employee said.
Zoom in: Office employees have been called into meetings to justify how projects are in line with the president's policies, according to people familiar with the matter and memos obtained by Axios.
- DOE leadership has required staff and funding recipients to scrap community benefits plans, a required component of DOE applications that includes workforce development.
- Wright has promised a "full review" of community benefits plans. Senate Energy Chair Mike Lee suggested those plans "could require discrimination and other actions of dubious legality."
- The plans were occasionally the deciding factor between two similar projects, one DOE person said.
The agency has put OCED contracts on hold that are crucial to overseeing the programs and jeopardizing project reviews this summer, another employee said.
- It has barred employees from proactively communicating with awardees, traveling to sites and fulfilling invoices, according to an internal email.
Between the lines: Staffers said they have gotten little feedback from new OCED director Cathy Tripodi, an Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy office official under Trump 1.0.
- Nor have they heard much from OCED adviser Curt Coccodrilli, who served in the first Trump administration as USDA director of rural development in Pennsylvania.
- Friday's court order temporarily blocking Trump's funding pause could allow the DOE to fulfill invoices, but OCED staff is still waiting on departmental direction.
The DOE media office and Tripodi and Coccodrilli didn't return requests for comment.
The big picture: The internal whiplash at DOE is further evidence of the chaos and confusion that Trump's funding freeze has caused.
- Congressional Republicans promised the party would approach the IRA with a scalpel, not a sledgehammer.
