Leaked doc reveals the chaotic politics behind Trump Energy Department cuts

Summary

This week, the Department of Energy canceled nearly $8 billion worth of awards — a move touted by the Trump administration as an effort to protect fossil fuels at the expense of renewables. But documents obtained by TechCrunch show that the reality is more complex than that simple message. The agency has not released a list of the canceled awards, but TechCrunch has obtained a copy and has analyzed the 321 contracts that the DOE is seeking to undo. Not all projects focused on renewable energy, though. Two listed in the document, one for $300 million to Colorado State University and another for $210 million to the Gas Technology Institute, would have helped oil and gas producers large and small reduce methane emissions from their wells. The Gas Technology Institute is a research and development organization that mostly caters to the natural gas industry. The group had a dozen awards canceled, according to the document, totaling $417 million. Carbon capture and removal also took a hit, with 10 of the 21 projects canceled totaling around $200 million. Many are in Harris-voting states, though that rubric doesn’t explain the entire picture. “Three categories are popping up,” Erin Burns, executive director at Carbon180, told TechCrunch. “Where are they located? Who are the partners in it? Were these projects going to move forward?” Techcrunch event San Francisco | October 27-29, 2025 It’s true that states which voted for Kamala Harris in the last presidential election were hit hardest by the move. California lost the most, with at least $2.2 billion worth of contracts canceled. Colorado, Illinois, Massachusetts, Minnesota, and Oregon each have around half a billion dollars’ worth of awards that were killed, with New York State losing at least $309 million. Those that voted for Trump tended to have contracts canceled worth single-digit millions of dollars. One of the largest awards canceled was granted to the state of Minnesota for $467 million. Awarded as part of the Bipa...