Under Pressure From DOGE, Department of Energy Weighs Deep Cuts to Clean Energy Department

Cuts include long-term battery storage projects, funding to help innovate steel, aluminum, cement

April 4, 2025

WASHINGTON, DC - Under pressure from Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), the Department of Energy (DOE) is weighing deep cuts to the Office of Clean Energy Demonstrations (OCED), recommending the termination of $9+ billion awarded to dozens of projects, according to information obtained by Axios Proand Reuters.

The cuts include several long-duration battery storage projects to companies developing technology to support utilities in better storing power produced from renewable energy sources like solar and wind.

The cuts also include projects awarded through the Industrial Demonstrations Program(IDP), which supports the innovative production of American steel, aluminum, cement, chemicals, and more.

According to a list obtained by the Sierra Club, industrial projects on the proposed chopping block include funding in innovation for cement decarbonization and projects reducing the steel industry's reliance on coal.

In response to the news, Patrick Drupp, Sierra Club's Director of Climate Policy, issued the following statement:

"DOGE's push to eliminate OCED is not just shortsighted - it's sabotage. At the very moment that Donald Trump promises that tariffs will rebuild American manufacturing, Elon Musk is eliminating innovative steel, aluminum, and cement projects vital to the U.S. industrial base. There's no plan. Only pain for workers and communities counting on these projects.

Funding for clean energy and manufacturing innovation has broad bipartisan support, and this proposal to gut funding for both is a gift to polluters and a betrayal to communities across the country. This decision not only slows progress in the inevitable clean energy transition, it threatens American competitiveness on the global stage. Trump and his cronies are sending a clear message that once again, the federal government values fossil fuel profits over people."

About the Sierra Club

The Sierra Club is America's largest and most influential grassroots environmental organization, with millions of members and supporters. In addition to protecting every person's right to get outdoors and access the healing power of nature, the Sierra Club works to promote clean energy, safeguard the health of our communities, protect wildlife, and preserve our remaining wild places through grassroots activism, public education, lobbying, and legal action. For more information, visit www.sierraclub.org.

Industrial Transformation, renewable energy