U.S. secretary of Energy Chris Wright announced the termination of 24 awards issued by the Office of Clean Energy Demonstrations (OCED) totaling over $3.7 billion in taxpayer-funded financial assistance. After a thorough and individualized financial review of each award, DOE found that these projects failed to advance the energy needs of the American people, were not economically viable and would not generate a positive return on investment of taxpayer dollars.
Of the 24 awards cancelled, nearly 70 percent (16 of the 24 projects) were signed between Election Day and January 20th. The projects primarily include funding for carbon capture and sequestration (CCS) and decarbonization initiatives. By terminating these awards, DOE is generating an immediate $3.6 billion in savings for the American people.
“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,” said secretary Wright. “Today, we are acting in the best interest of the American people by cancelling these 24 awards.”
Earlier this month, DOE issued a Secretarial Memorandum entitled, “Ensuring Responsibility for Financial Assistance,” which outlined DOE’s policy for evaluating financial assistance on a case-by-case basis to identity waste of taxpayer dollars, protect America’s national security and advance president Trump’s commitment to unleash affordable, reliable and secure energy for the American people. DOE utilized this review process to evaluate each of these 24 awards and determined that they did not meet the economic, national security or energy security standards necessary to sustain DOE’s investment.
The following is a comprehensive list of the 24 projects with funding now rescinded:
Following are the companies affected by the cancelled grants:
- ExxonMobil – $331 million for a clean hydrogen project at the Baytown Olefins Plant in Texas
- Calpine Corporation – $540 million for two carbon capture and storage (CCS) projects at the Sutter power plant in California and the Baytown plant in Texas
- Heidelberg Materials US, Inc. – $500 million for a low-carbon cement project in Louisiana
- Eastman Chemical Company – $375 million for a molecular recycling facility in Longview, Texas
- Kraft Heinz Co. – $170 million for decarbonization initiatives across multiple U.S. plants
- Nevada Gold Mines, LLC – $95 million for emissions reduction in gold mining operations
- Sublime Systems – $87 million for a clean cement technology project
- PPL Corp. – $72 million for a CCS retrofit at the Cane Run Generating Station in Kentucky
- Ørsted – $99 million for a clean methanol project in Texas
- Libbey Glass LLC – $45.1 million for an industrial decarbonization project at its Toledo, Ohio facility
- National Cement Company of California – $500 million for a carbon capture project in California
- Sutter CCUS – $270 million for a carbon capture project in California
- Lebec Net Zero Project – $500 million for producing carbon-neutral cement in California
- Baytown Carbon Capture Project – $270 million for a CCS project in Texas
- Eastman Chemical Solar and Battery Installation – $375 million for solar power and battery installations at a recycling facility in Texas
- Heidelberg Materials Cement Decarbonization – $500 million for capturing CO₂ emissions from cement production in Indiana
- ExxonMobil Hydrogen Conversion – $331 million for converting a plastic plant to run on clean hydrogen in Texas
- Calpine Baytown CCS Project $270 million for a carbon capture project at the Baytown plant in Texas
- Calpine Sutter CCS Project – $270 million for a carbon capture project at the Sutter power plant in California
- Ørsted Clean Methanol Project – $99 million for a clean methanol project in Texas
- PPL Corp. Cane Run Retrofit – $72 million for a CCS retrofit at the Cane Run Generating Station in Kentucky
- Sublime Systems Clean Cement Technology – $87 million for a clean cement technology project
- Nevada Gold Mines Emissions Reduction – $95 million for emissions reduction in gold mining operations
- Kraft Heinz Decarbonization Initiative – $170 million for decarbonization initiatives across multiple U.S. plants
Published June 2025