The Department of Energy announced plans to rescind or revise a combined $83 billion in funding for projects related to the energy transition, The New York Times reported.
On Jan. 22, the Energy Department's Office of Energy Dominance Financing, previously the DOE's Loan Programs Office, issued a press release indicating it was in the process of "restructuring, revising, or eliminating" tens of billions of dollars in commitments.
As the Times noted, the announcement was less novel than it appeared, as the abrupt cancellation of wind and solar projects persisted throughout 2025, prompting more than 20 states to file suit against the federal government.
The administration moved to cancel a massive offshore wind project that would supply clean energy to half a million homes in New York, but a federal judge recently ruled that the developer could resume construction, the Associated Press reported.
The ruling came days after a separate federal judge's decision that cuts to seven clean energy projects in the fall were "unlawful" under the Fifth Amendment's equal protection clause.
Broadly, cuts to wind and, particularly, solar initiatives came at a terrible time for ratepayers; a sharp uptick in AI data centers increased energy demand throughout 2025, spiking energy bills by as much as 36.3% in some areas.
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Legislation passed in the summer eliminated longstanding subsidies for installing solar panels, creating a new hurdle for households drowning under rising energy costs.
As the Times observed, frozen grants and loans had indirect effects as well, with initiatives waning in an environment newly hostile to the energy transition. Several firms whose funding remained in limbo were forced to cancel plans due to uncertainty.
The outlet also noted that the former Loan Programs Office was designed to foster fledgling technologies. That included the LPO's "crucial $465 million loan in 2010 to Tesla, which grew into an electric vehicle powerhouse."
Ultimately, energy policy aside, one former DOE official explained that electrification and sufficient infrastructure were far from the only things adversely affected by the federal government's sudden about-face on business funding.
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Absolutely! 💯 David Turk served as Deputy Energy Secretary under the prior administration and previously warned that the reversals would discourage businesses and other nations from making commitments to an unpredictable, capricious United States.
"If we get to conditional commitment with a loan program recipient, that's the government's credibility. That's the American people's credibility on the line to follow through and make sure that we are providing that certainty for investment," Turk cautioned.
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