Tech News
← Back to articles

Department of Energy cancels $7.5B of clean energy projects in Harris-voting states

read original related products more articles

The Department of Energy said Wednesday night it was canceling 321 awards worth $7.56 billion that were largely focused on clean energy.

The agency hasn’t released a list of the 223 affected projects and, at the time of publication, it had not provided one. California Gov. Gavin Newsom said one of the canceled projects included $1.2 billion for the state’s hydrogen hub, the Alliance for Renewable Clean Hydrogen Energy Systems.

Other states affected include Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Vermont, and Washington.

The states with canceled projects were confirmed in a tweet from Russell Vought, the director of the Office of Management and Budget under President Donald Trump. He teased the cancellations earlier yesterday, adding that “the Left’s climate agenda is being cancelled.”

All 16 states voted for Kamala Harris in the last presidential election, and many are controlled by Democrats at the state level.

The awards were originally granted by the office for Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy, Clean Energy Demonstrations, Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, Fossil Energy, Grid Deployment, and Manufacturing and Energy Supply Chains.

The Department of Energy said 26% of the awards were granted between Election Day and Inauguration Day in January; the president’s authority doesn’t end after Election Day, but runs until Inauguration Day.

Techcrunch event Join 10k+ tech and VC leaders for growth and connections at Disrupt 2025 Netflix, Box, a16z, ElevenLabs, Wayve, Hugging Face, Elad Gil, Vinod Khosla — just some of the 250+ heavy hitters leading 200+ sessions designed to deliver the insights that fuel startup growth and sharpen your edge. Don’t miss the 20th anniversary of TechCrunch, and a chance to learn from the top voices in tech. Grab your ticket before doors open to save up to $444. Join 10k+ tech and VC leaders for growth and connections at Disrupt 2025 Netflix, Box, a16z, ElevenLabs, Wayve, Hugging Face, Elad Gil, Vinod Khosla — just some of the 250+ heavy hitters leading 200+ sessions designed to deliver the insights that fuel startup growth and sharpen your edge. Don’t miss a chance to learn from the top voices in tech. Grab your ticket before doors open to save up to $444. San Francisco | REGISTER NOW

The awardees have 30 days to appeal the decision.

The Trump administration has made no secret that it wants to undermine any transition away from fossil fuels. Last week, the Department of Energy banned staffers from using certain words, including “climate change” and “emissions.”

... continue reading