NEW REPORT: $24B in U.S. Energy Projects Stalled as Trump’s War Sends Costs Soaring

New report documents six months of grant cancellations, frozen funding, and silence from Trump’s DOE — leaving U.S. energy security weaker at the worst possible moment

Washington, D.C. –  A new report released today by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Alumni Network found that tens of billions of dollars of critical domestic clean energy investments remain in limbo thanks to Trump’s war on clean energy. 

Today marks six months since Trump’s DOE unlawfully terminated 321 cost-saving American energy projects worth $7.5 billion during the October government shutdown. In total, this administration has terminated or threatened to cancel nearly $24 billion of federal investments in clean energy projects since January 2025. These are the exact projects that would have created a buffer to the effects of Trump’s reckless war, but instead, Americans are left footing the bill. 

Clearly, clean energy disinvestment and surging utility costs were just the beginning of Trump’s war on the wallets of the American people. Thanks to his war of choice in Iran, the national average price for a gallon of gas has surpassed $4 for the first time since 2022, grocery prices are set to rise, and Americans are being forced to pay more at the airport and at the post office. 

REMINDER: A federal court found the October 2025 terminations unconstitutional. Yet the new report reveals that the vast majority (estimated at over 90%) of affected awardees have received no resolution from DOE, which has effectively gone dark on companies, communities, and hundreds of thousands of workers counting on these investments.

Climate Power Communications Director Alex Glass issued the following statement: “While the Iran war is spiking energy costs for every American family, Trump’s DOE has spent a year canceling and freezing the very investments that would drive prices down. Trump gutted them to score political points with his big oil donors, and now Americans are paying the price at the pump and on their staggering utility bills.”

The head of the International Energy Agency has described the situation caused by the Iran war as the “greatest global energy security challenge in history.” Trump’s termination of these DOE grants, on top of his recent $1 billion buyout to cancel a massive wind farm, and the Republican budget bill that gutted homegrown clean energy projects, has left families exposed to high costs and American energy security weakened at precisely the moment it matters most.

Projects in limbo include:

• Mineral Basin Solar, Clearfield County, Pennsylvania: DOE terminated a $90 million grant for a project that would have powered 75,000 Pennsylvania homes, with most of the impact falling on a Republican-held district.

• Maine Grid Optimization: DOE has distributed $0 of a $65 million award to the state of Maine and Maine’s two utilities to deploy grid technology upgrades at 81 sites across the state. The project would improve grid resilience, speed up power connection to meet growing demand, lower electric bills, and support 200 jobs. The project has bipartisan support from Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME) and appears on DOE’s list of awards it seeks to cancel.
• Public Service Commission of Wisconsin: DOE has distributed $0 of a $3 million award to accelerate permitting of interstate transmission lines expected to create nearly 25,000 jobs across Wisconsin and Minnesota — despite bipartisan congressional support.

• Valley Children’s Hospital, Madera, California: DOE canceled a $30 million award to build a battery backup system capable of providing 10 hours of critical power to a children’s hospital in a region battered by wildfires, floods, and earthquakes. DOE told the press the hospital should use diesel generators instead, in a county that the American Lung Association gave an “F” rating for air quality. Today, diesel costs are at historic highs.
• Puerto Rico Energy Resilience Fund: DOE terminated nearly $900 million in awards to deploy solar and battery storage to low-income Puerto Rican households, including residents who depend on electricity for medical devices, in a territory still recovering from catastrophic hurricanes.
• Mercedes-Benz Vans, North Charleston, South Carolina: DOE has distributed $0 of a $285 million grant to convert a manufacturing facility to electric van production, which would have added 800 American jobs. Republican Rep. Nancy Mace personally asked Secretary Wright to unfreeze the funding. DOE still hasn’t acted.
• Heidelberg Cement Plant, Mitchell, Indiana: DOE terminated a $500 million award to deploy carbon capture at one of the nation’s largest cement plants, killing 1,000 construction jobs in a district represented entirely by Republicans. The American Cement Association called the cancellation “a missed opportunity” for both industry and the administration.
• Pacific Northwest Hydrogen Hub: DOE canceled a $1 billion award to build a hydrogen hub spanning Montana, Oregon, and Washington, wiping out a projected 10,000 jobs, including many in Republican congressional districts.

The full report is available at www.doealumni.org/reports.