The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has announced the termination of 321 financial awards that supported 223 projects, resulting in a savings of about $7.56 billion for taxpayers. According to the DOE, a detailed financial review found that these projects did not meet national energy needs, were not economically viable, and would not provide a positive return on taxpayer investment.
The canceled awards came from several DOE offices, including Clean Energy Demonstrations (OCED), Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), Grid Deployment (GDO), Manufacturing and Energy Supply Chains (MESC), Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E), and Fossil Energy (FE).
Secretary Wright commented on the review process: “On day one, the Energy Department began the critical task of reviewing billions of dollars in financial awards, many rushed through in the final months of the Biden administration with inadequate documentation by any reasonable business standard,” Secretary Wright said. “President Trump promised to protect taxpayer dollars and expand America’s supply of affordable, reliable, and secure energy. Today’s cancellation’s deliver on that commitment. Rest assured, the Energy Department will continue reviewing awards to ensure that every dollar works for the American people.”
The DOE stated that 26% of the terminated awards were granted between Election Day and Inauguration Day, representing over $3.1 billion in funding.
In May 2025, Secretary Wright issued a memorandum called “Ensuring Responsibility for Financial Assistance,” which set new policies for evaluating financial awards. This policy allowed program offices to request more information from awardees and required individual reviews of each award to identify waste, safeguard taxpayer funds, protect national security, and support President Trump’s energy goals.
Through this review process, DOE determined that the canceled awards did not meet standards related to economic viability or national and energy security.
According to DOE procedures outlined in the Secretary’s memorandum, recipients have 30 days to appeal a termination decision. Some projects affected by this announcement have already started the appeal process.
