The U.S. Department of Energy is saving U.S. taxpayers well over $3 billion, U.S. Secretary of Energy Chris Wright announced.
Even with Elon Musk formally departed from the widespread Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) efforts, individual agencies are continuing on in that journey, moving to slash waste and save taxpayers millions — or in this case, billions — of dollars.
Wright announced that his department is saving U.S. taxpayers a whopping $3.7 billion with the termination of 24 awards issued by the Office of Clean Energy Demonstrations (OCED). According to the press release, after a financial review of the rewards, the Department of Energy found that the projects “failed to advance the energy needs of the American people, were not economically viable and would not generate a positive return on investment of taxpayer dollars.”
Therefore, they were terminated:
Of the 24 awards cancelled, nearly 70% (16 of the 24 projects) were signed between Election Day and January 20th. The projects primarily include funding for carbon capture and sequestration (CCS) and decarbonization initiatives. By terminating these awards, DOE is generating an immediate $3.6 billion in savings for the American people.
Wright said in a statement that the contrast between how the Trump administration handled this and the Biden administration could not be more clear.
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“While the previous administration failed to conduct a thorough financial review before signing away billions of taxpayer dollars, 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,” he said in a statement.
“Today, we are acting in the best interest of the American people by cancelling these 24 awards,” he added.
All the while, the greater DOGE efforts continue, saving taxpayers $175 billion total. That breaks down to $1,086.96 per taxpayer. The Department of Energy currently comes in 16th place in terms of federal agencies generating the most taxpayer savings.
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