The Trump administration announced Friday that it is canceling 24 awards previously issued by the Biden administration and the Office of Clean Energy Demonstrations that had exceeded $3.7 billion in federal tax money.
“While the previous administration failed to conduct a thorough financial review before signing away billions of taxpayer dollars, the Trump administration is doing our due diligence to ensure we are utilizing taxpayer dollars to strengthen our national security, bolster affordable, reliable energy sources and advance projects that generate the highest possible return on investment,” Energy Secretary Chris Wright said in a written statement Friday.
The majority of the awards entailed funding for carbon capture and sequestration, or CCS, and decarbonization initiatives. The administration noted that of the 24 awards issued, 16 of them were signed between Election Day 2024 and Jan. 20.
Some of the canceled awards include $500 million to Heidelberg Materials US Inc.; $375 million to Eastman Chemical Co.; $95 million to Nevada Gold Mines LLC; and $270 million to Sutter CCUS, according to a list provided by the Department of Energy.
Sublime Systems, which lost an $87 million grant, was “surprised and disappointed,” the company said in a statement.
“Today’s action is bad for U.S. competitiveness in the global market and also directly contradictory to the administration’s stated goals of supporting energy production and environmental innovation,” said Conrad Schneider, a senior director at the Clean Air Task Force. It “undercuts U.S. competitiveness at a time when there is a growing global market for cleaner industrial products and technologies.”
In May, Wright issued the “Ensuring Responsibility for Financial Assistance” memorandum with the intent to review the billions of dollars in clean energy subsides that were awarded in the final weeks of the Biden administration. Roughly $15 billion over 179 awards was issued and has been subject to evaluation.
The secretary reaffirmed that the primary objective of the Energy Department under Trump will be “to unleash affordable, reliable and secure energy for the American people.”
© 2025 Newsmax. All rights reserved.
