Colorado Democrats Push DOE to Restore $600M in Cancelled Energy Grants

By: Elyse Apel | Just The News

Colorado Democrats, including U.S. Sens. Michael Bennet and John Hickenlooper, joined together to sign a letter calling for the U.S. Department of Energy to restore over $600 million in funding for 38 Colorado-affiliated energy projects.

Colorado Democrats joined together to sign a letter calling for the U.S. Department of Energy to restore over $600 million in funding for 38 Colorado-affiliated energy projects.

In the letter, Colorado’s U.S. Sens. Michael Bennet and John Hickenlooper, and Colorado U.S. Reps. Joe Neguse, Diana DeGette, Jason Crow and Brittany Pettersen argue the cuts are harmful to the state.

“By cancelling over $600 million in energy-sector funding, much of which directly supported grid reliability, DOE is making it more difficult for Colorado to secure a stable and affordable energy future,” the lawmakers said in the letter.

Altogether, the DOE announced the termination of 321 financial awards for 223 projects nationwide. It applauded the cuts for saving the taxpayers a total of $7.56 billion.

“On day one, the Energy Department began the critical task of reviewing billions of dollars in financial awards, many rushed through in the final months of the Biden administration with inadequate documentation by any reasonable business standard,” said Secretary of Energy Chris Wright.

According to the DOE, of the 321 financial awards terminated, 26% were awarded between the 76 days between Election Day 2024 and Inauguration Day 2025. Those awards alone were valued at over $3.1 billion.

Announced at the end of September, 16 different states were impacted by the cuts. All of those states are Democrat-run, and lawmakers in many of those have pushed back, arguing the cuts are politically motivated.

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