The United States Energy Department announced on Thursday that it has terminated $ 7.56 billion in financial awards at 223 clean energy projects, all in states that voted for former Vice President Kamala Harris in the 2024 election.
“After an individualized and meticulous financial review, DOE determined that these projects did not adequately advance the country’s energy needs, were not economically viable and would not provide a positive performance of taxpayer’s investment of dollars,” the agency said in a statement.
A list of affected projects was not immediately available. DOE said that the recipients of the awards have 30 days to appeal a termination decision and that “some of the projects included in this announcement have already begun this process”.
In total, DOE said that he terminated 321 financial awards issued by the offices of clean energy demonstrations, energy efficiency and renewable energy, network deployment, manufacture and energy supply chains, advanced research projects Energy and fossil energy.
Energy Secretary Chris Wright said that DOE has been working to review “billions of dollars in financial awards, many precipitated in the last months of the Biden administration with inappropriate documentation for any reasonable trade standard.”
From the finished financial awards, DOE said that 26% were awarded between the day of the election and the day of the inauguration. “These awards were only evaluated at more than $ 3.1 billion,” the agency said.
Russian Vought, director of the Management and Budget Office, said in a publication in X that the finished projects were in California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Vermont and Washington.
“About $ 8 billion was canceled in financing again green scam to feed the left -handed climate agenda,” Vought wrote.
Democratic legislators and consumer proponents said that DOE funding cancellation is illegal and an example of presidential administration that executes a political vendetta that will harm all North -Americans.
“This administration has had plans in the works for months to cancel critical energy projects, and are now taking measures illegally to kill jobs and increase people’s energy bills,” said Senator Patty Murray, D-Wash, in a statement. “This is a blatant attempt to punish political opposition.”
“Our democracy is poorly broken when a president can illegally suspend blue state projects to punish his political enemies,” said Senator Adam Schiff, D-Calif.
“End critical energy projects in democratic states weapons political revenge policy and will only increase energy bills, increase unemployment and eliminate jobs. It is reckless and draws both common sense and public confidence,” said Rosa Deauro.
Cutting the funding for projects “will mean that lost factory jobs and highest energy prices for North -Americans,” said Jackie Wong, a Senior Vice President of Climate and Energy at the Natural Resource Defense Council, in a statement. “The final support for these projects will stop innovation and north -American competitiveness, will increase the costs for consumers and will further cement our confidence in gross fossil fuels.”
The canceled financing awards include hydrogen projects in California and the North -Pacific. NRDC said that cancellations also include financing for battery plants, electricity network updates, clean vehicle manufacture and industrial demonstrations projects.
California Governor Gavin Newsom issued a statement that Confirmed Doe canceled up to $ 1.2 billion for the Alliance for Hydrogen Hydrogen Systems Renewable cleaning, the State Hydrogen Center.
“The cancellation of the arches is vindictive, look and evidence that this administration is not serious about the North -American Energy Dominion,” Senator Alex Padilla, D-Calif said.
Ultimately, North consumers -Americans will pay the price, the defenders said.
When you cancel more renewable energy projects, Trump “is directly increasing energy bills for millions of Americans,” said Sierra Club Climate Policy Director Patrick Drupp in a statement.
