Tilting the energy market to fossil fuels: clean-energy funding cuts and rising bills

Case

Beyond boosting oil and gas directly, the administration cut or canceled tens of billions in clean-energy funding and phased out wind and solar tax credits. It used emergency powers to keep fossil plants running and blocked the cheapest new power sources. In a court filing, DOE admitted that $7.6 billion of those cancellations were based solely on which way the recipient's state voted. Household electricity and energy bills have gone up, not down.

Documentation - funding cut
Oct 2, 2025: DOE terminated $7.56 billion for 223 clean-energy projects, all in 16 states that voted for Harris. OMB Director Russ Vought called it ending 'Green New Scam funding.'
In a July 15, 2026 court filing, DOE stated the cancellations were 'based solely on the political identity of the grant recipient's state,' with no 'programmatic, statutory, cost-reduction, or performance-based' consideration.
The cuts included $2.2 billion for the California and Pacific Northwest hydrogen hubs. Thirteen states sued over the hydrogen-hub and clean-energy cuts.
EPA terminated the $7 billion Solar for All program for low-income households in August 2025. On Sept 18, 2026, Judge Mary McElroy (a Trump appointee) ruled the termination illegal and restored the program.
The July 2025 tax law phased out wind and solar credits. Rhodium projects new clean capacity will be 57-62% lower through 2035, with over half a trillion dollars in clean investment at risk (including $263 billion in wind, solar and storage).

Documentation - steering the market toward fossil fuels
The administration declared a national energy emergency and used 90-day emergency orders to keep aging coal plants running. DOE also directed more than $600 million in subsidies to coal plants. It froze wind permitting and delayed or canceled renewables on federal land, including Nevada's Esmeralda 7 solar-and-battery project, even though clean energy made up over 90% of new grid capacity the prior year.

Documentation - what consumers pay
Electricity bills rose in 47 states over the year to Nov 2025, by at least 10% in 10 of them.
As of Sept 2026: gasoline went from $3.12 (Jan 2025) to $4.29, diesel is above $6, and electricity is expected at 18.2 cents/kWh compared with 16.5 cents before Trump took office. Energy employment fell in 2025.
Rhodium projects household energy costs rising $78-192 a year by 2035 because of the tax law.

Perspectives

Official position — Energy Department and OMB Director Russ Vought
Vought described the October 2025 terminations as ending "Green New Scam funding." The entry's dispute note says the administration holds the canceled awards were rushed and uneconomic.

Legal view — Courts and the states that sued
In a July 15, 2026 court filing DOE stated the cancellations were based solely on the political identity of the recipient's state. Thirteen states sued over the hydrogen-hub and clean-energy cuts. On Sept. 18, 2026 Judge Mary McElroy, a Trump appointee, ruled the termination of EPA's $7 billion Solar for All program illegal and restored it.

Expert view — Rhodium Group
Rhodium projects new clean capacity will be 57-62% lower through 2035 because of the July 2025 tax law, with over half a trillion dollars in clean investment at risk, and household energy costs rising $78-192 a year by 2035. Analysts disagree on how much of recent price rises these policies caused, per the entry.

Editorial read — The Author (site author)
The Author's view is that canceling awards by the way a state voted, as DOE's own filing describes, is a misuse of public money regardless of the energy source involved. This is interpretation. The causes of rising energy bills are contested, and the entry documents the policies and prices without proving that one caused the other.

Note
The administration says the cancelled awards were rushed and uneconomic, and analysts disagree on how much of the rise in energy prices these policies caused.

Sources
[1] S&P Global (https://www.spglobal.com/energy/en/news-research/latest-news/electric-power/021926-13-states-sue-trump-administration-over-hydrogen-hub-clean-energy-cuts)
[2] EDF (https://www.edf.org/media/electricity-bills-have-risen-47-states-while-trump-administration-blocks-cheapest-cleanest)
[3] Axios (https://www.axios.com/2025/10/02/doe-ends-awards-vought-tweet)
[4] Utility Dive (https://www.utilitydive.com/news/doe-cancel-clean-energy-awards/801764/)
[5] Utility Dive (https://www.utilitydive.com/news/federal-judge-restores-7b-solar-for-all-program-says-epa-illegally-axed-i/830879/)
[6] Utility Dive (https://www.utilitydive.com/news/backlash-trumps-vindictive-grant-cancellations-doe-energy/826226/)
[7] CS Monitor (https://www.csmonitor.com/Business/2026/0912/trump-gas-prices-energy-policy)
[8] Rhodium Group (https://rhg.com/research/assessing-the-impacts-of-the-final-one-big-beautiful-bill/)
[9] gasworld (https://www.gasworld.com/story/trumps-doe-axes-2-2bn-funding-for-california-and-pacific-northwest-hydrogen-hubs/2166099.article/)

Connections

Related — 'Flood the zone': overwhelming courts, opposition, and the public
Shared mechanism: cancellations later ruled illegal (Solar for All) after the damage is done.

Related — CFPB under Vought: medical-debt protections rolled back, and who runs it now
Same actor: Vought at OMB drove the clean-energy grant cancellations ('Green New Scam').

Related — DOE emergency orders keeping retiring coal plants open at ratepayers' expense
Cause/effect: emergency orders keep fossil plants in the market at ratepayers' cost.

Related — DOGE 'Defend the Spend': delayed and frozen funding to states
Shared mechanism: freezing/cancelling already-obligated federal funds.

Related — Energy Department cancels $7.6 billion in climate and clean-energy awards, including research grants (Oct. 2025)
Overlapping coverage: that entry covers clean-energy funding cuts and the fossil tilt more broadly; this one focuses on the October 2025 award terminations and the research they affected.

Related — Iran war oil shock: record oil profits, higher prices for everyone else
Both drive the higher energy prices consumers are paying.

Related — One Big Beautiful Bill Act: royalty cuts, mandated lease sales, and a delayed methane fee
Same law: fossil breaks expanded while wind/solar credits were phased out.

Related — Synthesis: Big Oil's return on investment across the whole administration
Part of the pattern: clearing the field for fossil fuels.

Related — War on wind: stop-work orders, frozen projects, and canceled clean-energy funding
Same campaign against competing energy sources; wind is the headline case.