Trump Blocks Billions in DOE Grid Grants
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- Trump administration has terminated or stalled billions in DOE grid grants since January 2025, with 356 awards totaling $12.5 billion canceled and 303 more worth $12.2 billion threatened, per a DOE Alumni Network report
- Alliant Energy in Wisconsin voluntarily withdrew from a $50 million DOE grant for its SPARC project to reduce outages by up to 50% in disadvantaged and tribal communities, after the agency terminated the award in October 2025 and disbursed no funds
- Sacramento Municipal Utility District (SMUD) has not received any DOE reimbursement since October 2025 for its 200,000-smart-meter deployment, despite spending close to $100 million of its own money and previously receiving $33 million from DOE
- California's largest GRIP project, a $630.6 million grant to upgrade more than 100 miles of high-voltage transmission lines, was terminated in October with zero dollars disbursed, killing projected $200 million in efficiency savings
- DOE in October terminated 321 financial awards supporting 223 projects — all tied to states that voted for Kamala Harris — shortly after OMB Director Russ Vought declared cancellation of "nearly $8 billion in Green New Scam funding"
- Of roughly $11.4 billion in DOE grid funds, $9.1 billion remains "at risk" while only $400 million has been canceled outright, according to High Road Analytics founder Emlyn Bottomley
- GRIP program projects required grantees to provide matching funds at least equal to DOE's contribution, meaning partners have "hundreds of millions of dollars" committed with no certainty of reimbursement
Why it matters: Grid infrastructure projects with bipartisan support — spanning national security, economic competitiveness, and affordability — are being frozen or killed through a mix of overt political targeting and bureaucratic delay, with $9.1 billion of $11.4 billion in obligated funds now in limbo. Utilities, state agencies, and tribes that matched federal dollars are absorbing the risk while ratepayers in both red and blue states face delayed reliability improvements and higher long-term costs.
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