The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) announced the termination of 321 financial awards supporting 223 energy projects, a majority of which are clean energy projects, claiming an estimated savings of $7.56 billion.

The terminated awards were issued by six offices, including those for clean energy demonstrations, energy efficiency and renewable energy, grid deployment, manufacturing and energy supply chains, the Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy, and fossil energy.

Recently, DOE planned to return more than $13 billion that had been approved under the Biden administration to incentivize the development of renewable energy projects.

The DOE stated that the decision follows a detailed, individualized financial review to assess the economic and strategic value of projects funded through its various offices.

It added that the canceled projects did not adequately advance national energy needs, were not economically viable, and failed to demonstrate a positive return on investment.

Of the 321 awards, 26% were issued between November 6, 2024 (Election Day), and January 20, 2025 (Inauguration Day), a period DOE noted was marked by a rush of funding approvals. These awards alone were valued at more than $3.1 billion.

Chris Wright, the Secretary of Energy, stated that one of the department’s priorities was to review billions of dollars in financial awards, many of which were issued during the final months of the Biden administration with inadequate documentation.

Wright said the cancellations reflect the current president, Donald Trump’s, directive to protect taxpayer resources while ensuring the expansion of affordable, reliable, and secure energy supplies in the U.S.

In May this year, Wright issued a memorandum titled “Ensuring Responsibility for Financial Assistance,” which established new guidelines for evaluating financial awards across the department.

The policy requires program offices to conduct case-by-case reviews of awards, request additional information from awardees when necessary, and assess projects against standards of economic viability, national security, and energy security. The new policy also prioritizes the safeguarding of taxpayer dollars while “advancing the administration’s commitment to affordable and reliable domestic energy.”

The DOE confirmed that, based on this evaluation framework, each of the 321 terminated awards was found to be inconsistent with its revised standards. As part of the process, award recipients have been granted 30 days to appeal the termination decision. The department noted that some of the affected projects have already initiated appeals.

In July, Trump signed an executive order directing the Secretary of the Treasury to terminate the clean electricity production and investment tax credits for wind and solar facilities and implement the enhanced foreign entity of concern restrictions identified in the ‘One Big Beautiful Bill’ Act.