Trump’s Energy Department axes Biden-era projects, saving taxpayers $7.56B

The U.S. Department of Energy, under President Donald Trump, has terminated hundreds of Biden-era financial awards and projects related to green energy, estimated to save taxpayers billions of dollars.

Trump’s DOE announced on Wednesday that it has ended 321 financial awards connected to 223 projects from 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).

A DOE spokesperson told Fox News Digital that the projects related to initiatives such as reducing emissions, clean hydrogen, carbon capture, renewal and storage, renewable energy like wind and solar, transportation electrification and more.

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“Last week, President Trump said climate change was the ‘greatest con job ever perpetrated.’ The projects Secretary Wright canceled yesterday help explain why. Billions were allotted to prop up insolvent companies, change public sentiment of solar energy, monitor bat patterns around windmills, create DEI models for EV charging, and pay for grid ‘updates’ that make electricity less reliable and more expensive,” DOE Press Secretary Ben Dietderich told Fox News Digital.

“The waste and abuse the Energy Department found was astounding,” Dietderich continued. “Fortunately, the days of selling out Americans to appease climate lobbyists are over.”

The terminations followed what the agency described as a “thorough” financial review, determining the projects “did not adequately advance the nation’s energy needs, were not economically viable and would not provide a positive return on investment of taxpayer dollars,” according to a DOE press release.

The DOE said canceling the projects will save taxpayers an estimated $7.56 billion and noted that 26% of the financial support had been awarded between Election Day 2024 and Inauguration Day in 2025 — totaling more than $3.1 billion.

“President Trump promised to protect taxpayer dollars and expand America’s supply of affordable, reliable and secure energy,” Energy Secretary Chris Wright said in the press release. “Rest assured, the Energy Department will continue reviewing awards to ensure that every dollar works for the American people.”

In May, Wright issued a memorandum establishing a new policy for evaluating financial awards, authorizing additional information from its offices or award recipients and requiring a case-by-case review. Appeals can be made within 30 days regarding a termination decision.

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