Lofgren, Padilla, Schiff Lead California Democrats in Blasting Trump’s Unlawful Energy Projects Cuts, Call for Nearly $8 Billion to be Reinstated

California Lawmakers: This Administration "is focused on vindictive, destructive actions that will keep us dependent on innovations and expertise from foreign competitors and further raise costs for American families."

WASHINGTON, DC - U.S. Representative Zoe Lofgren, Chair of the California Democratic Congressional delegation, along with U.S. Senators Alex Padilla and Adam Schiff (both D-CA), led 27 Democratic California lawmakers in denouncingthe Department of Energy's (DOE) cuts of $7.6 billionin critical grants for energy projects across California and the country. DOE's list of cuts includes 79 projects and over $3.3 billion in investment across California, with over $2 billion in projects eliminated from Republican-represented districts in California. The funding for these projects was approved and appropriated by Congress, and the cuts violate existing bipartisan law while threatening to further raise energy costs.

In their letter to Secretary of Energy Chris Wright and Office of Management and Budget Director Russell Vought, the California lawmakers made clear that these vindictive cuts will weaken our electrical grids, harm American workers and manufacturing, and threaten communities who depend on these projects for reliable energy sources. They emphasized that these cuts fly in the face of the Administration's stated priorities while abandoning their purported goal of securing "American energy dominance."

"We write to express our outrage at the unlawful cancellation of nearly $8 billion of crucial Department of Energy grants supporting projects which, if reinstated, would make our country's electric grids, industrial processes, and workforce stronger, safer, and more resilient," wrote the lawmakers.

"Many of these projects had already begun implementation, and their cancellation abandons hardworking Americans for the sake of cheap, partisan retribution. The DOE's $7.6 billion in cancellations do not bring our country any closer to American Energy Dominance. Instead, they threaten the country's progress toward reliable, resilient, and affordable energy for all and undermine thousands of American jobs along the way," continued the lawmakers.

These cuts targeting Democratic-led states like California were telegraphed earlier this year by reports of a DOE "hit list" of awards, contracts, and projects - many of which have already begun construction - that the Administration was considering canceling. The list contained California's Alliance for Renewable Clean Hydrogen Energy Systems (ARCHES) hydrogen hub and other California projects for which the Trump Administration is intending to withhold funding, including all $1.2 billion for ARCHES.

The list of cut projects also includes important energy storage projects that would add "dispatchable capacity" to help meet energy demand, going back on DOE's stated goals. For instance, one canceled project would provide $30 million to build long-duration energy storage capacity for Valley Children's Hospital in Madera, California, a critical Central Valley facility that that serves 1.3 million children. The project would have provided essential, dispatchable backup power for the hospital's operations, but now the Valley's only children's hospital with either an emergency medicine facility or a Level IV NICU facility for critically ill newborns will be left vulnerable to grid failure.

Additionally, projects in Republican-represented districts have been canceled that would have supported grid reliability and affordability, bolstered cement and glass manufacturing, improved carbon capture and storage, and facilitated cleaner and safer oil and gas use and processing. These projects would improve air quality in neighboring communities and reduce carbon emissions, while creating good-paying jobs for Californians of all political backgrounds.

In addition to Lofgren, Padilla, and Schiff, the letter was also signed by Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi (CA-11) and U.S. Representatives Nanette Barragán (CA-44), Ami Bera (CA-06), Julia Brownley (CA-26), Judy Chu (CA-28), Gil Cisneros (CA-31), Laura Friedman (CA-30), John Garamendi (CA-08), Robert Garcia (CA-42), Jared Huffman (CA-02), Sara Jacobs (CA-51), Sydney Kamlager-Dove (CA-37), Mike Levin (CA-49), Sam Liccardo (CA-16), Ted Lieu (CA-36), Doris Matsui (CA-07), Dave Min (CA-47), Kevin Mullin (CA-15), Jimmy Panetta (CA-19), Scott Peters (CA-50), Luz Rivas (CA-29), Raul Ruiz (CA-25), Lateefah Simon (CA-12), Norma Torres (CA-35), Derek Tran (CA-45), Juan Vargas (CA-52), and George Whitesides (CA-27).

Full text of the letter is available hereand below:

Dear Secretary Wright and Director Vought:

We write to express our outrage at the unlawful cancellation of nearly $8 billion of crucial Department of Energy grants supporting projects which, if reinstated, would make our country's electric grids, industrial processes, and workforce stronger, safer, and more resilient.

On October 1, 2025, OMB Director Russell Vought claimed that the $7.6 billion cancellations were "Green New Scam" projects benefiting only Democratic climate priorities, yet over $2 billion in funding has been pulled from Republican-represented districts in California alone. These projects were set to promote energy reliability, affordability, and safety for Americans. Clearly, the administration is not really working toward a "Golden Era of American Energy Dominance", and instead is focused on vindictive, destructive actions that will keep us dependent on innovations and expertise from foreign competitors and further raise costs for American families.

On October 3, 2025, California's Senators decried the cancellation of one of the State's most important projects for the next generation of energy technology: $1.2 billion for California's Alliance for Renewable Clean Hydrogen Energy (ARCHES) Hydrogen Hub. The full list of cancelled grants and awards recently released by the Department of Energy (DOE) worsens this egregious, vindictive action by the DOE and cancels additional crucial projects, totaling almost $7.6 billion in investments toward energy reliability, innovation, and affordability.

In many cases, projects are being cancelled despite being aligned with the Administration's stated priorities. For example, DOE is cancelling critical energy storage projects which would add "dispatchable capacity," exactly what DOE has claimed it wants to prioritize. One such cancelled project would provide $30 million to build long-duration energy storage capacity for Valley Children's Hospital in Madera, CA. Valley Children's is a critical facility in the Central Valley that serves 1.3 million children and provides the Valley's only children's hospital with an Emergency Medicine facility as well as the Valley's only Level IV NICU facility for critically ill newborns. The cancelled project would have added vital, dispatchable backup power to critical hospital operations. Nevertheless, the DOE seems to believe that the welfare of children in the Central Valley is inconsistent with the Trump Administration's priorities.

Cancelled projects also include critical improvements to grid reliability and affordability. For instance, $13 million was clawed back from Liberty Utilities' Leapfrog program to improve service and reliability for communities, particularly rural communities. A number of these cancelled projects go beyond critical improvements to the grid. Some of the country's most innovative industrial projects have also been axed, including groundbreaking improvements in cement and glass manufacturing aimed at protecting clean, breathable air in communities as well as providing key workforce development to create and train for good-paying jobs. These include $75 million for the Gallos Glass Project and $500 million for the National Cement Company of California's Lebec Net-Zero Project. These projects in Republican-represented districts have not been spared from these unlawful terminations that will only hurt hard-working American families and leave us even further away from securing "Energy Dominance."

Even projects intended to support clean, safe oil and gas use and processing to secure "firm, dispatchable capacity" are being threatened by the Administration's reckless cancellations. Carbon capture and storage is a promising approach to reducing the emissions footprint of traditionally carbon-intensive processes and products. Projects like the Kern County Community College District's Direct Air Capture hub have been unceremoniously cancelled despite providing research, workforce training, and technological support to this developing technology.

Many of these projects had already begun implementation, and their cancellation abandons hardworking Americans for the sake of cheap, partisan retribution. The DOE's $7.6 billion in cancellations do not bring our country any closer to American Energy Dominance. Instead, they threaten the country's progress toward reliable, resilient, and affordable energy for all and undermine thousands of American jobs along the way.

We urge you to reinstate funding for California's projects. Thank you for your time and attention to this important matter.

Sincerely,

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