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June 1, 2025 - The US Department of Energy is walking back $3.7 billion in funding for carbon capture and other emissions-reduction technologies, the federal agency said May 30. The DOE terminated 24 Biden administration awards after determining the projects were uneconomic and had "failed to advance the energy needs of the American people," Energy Secretary Chris Wright said.
Several of the canceled agreements are for carbon capture demonstrations in the power sector, including $540 million in funding for Calpine to retrofit its Sutter and Baytown natural gas-fired power plants.
Calpine did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The DOE's list also includes projects to reduce the emissions of heavy industry through carbon capture, clean hydrogen, renewables-plus-storage and other means. One of the recipients would have been ExxonMobil, which won $332 million to install hydrogen-capable burners at its Baytown olefins plant.
An ExxonMobil spokesperson declined to comment on the canceled grant.
Among the other grantees was utility PPL, a joint gold-mining venture between Newmont and Barrick Mining, and several cement producers.
The DOE said its decision to terminate the 24 awards under the Office of Clean Energy Demonstrations followed a "thorough and individualized financial review" of each project.
"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," Wright said in a statement.
President Donald Trump ordered agencies in January to stop disbursing clean energy funds and review their funding portfolios for consistency with the White House's stated policies.
Industry officials and concerned lawmakers have hinted at some of the latest cuts over the past few months. Other grants that were reportedly on the DOE's chopping block, including about $4 billion in hydrogen hub funding, did not appear on the agency's May 30 list of terminations.
'Missed opportunity'
Although the White House has vowed to go after the Biden administration's climate policies, many Republican lawmakers have expressed support for specific technologies that were cut, particularly carbon capture.
"This is really a missed opportunity for DOE and this administration on carbon capture and sequestration projects that have long been supported by bipartisan members in Congress," Frank Maisano, senior principal at law firm Bracewell, said in an email. "I would also remind that the majority of these projects are in red states and in industries that overwhelmingly support the president's energy agenda."
Jessie Stolark, executive director of the Carbon Capture Coalition, an industry group, called the cuts "a major step backward."
"It is hugely disappointing to see these projects canceled -- projects that had already progressed through a rigorous, monthslong review process by technical experts at DOE," Stolark said in a May 30 statement.
Many of the carbon capture grantees have already invested their own funds into the projects, Stolark added.
"With DOE canceling these projects, we are instead faced with a worst-case scenario in which the American taxpayer and businesses have invested billions without any results," Stolark said.
The cuts follow similar actions at other agencies, which have prompted multiple court challenges.
Earlier this year, the Environmental Protection Agency tried to claw back $20 billion in climate funding. Many of those grantees are now suing the EPA.
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