John B. Larson

10/08/2025 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 10/08/2025 11:59

Larson Demands Trump Officials Reinstate Canceled Projects to Lower Energy Costs

East Hartford, CT - Today, Rep. John B. Larson (CT-01) demanded U.S. Secretary of Energy Chris Wright immediately reinstate funding for clean energy projects canceled by the Trump White House as political retaliation during the government shutdown. $14,108,090 in federal funding was pulled from the First District, including a project to reduce emissions and funding to advance clean hydrogen research and lower fuel costs.

On October 1st, Project 2025 architect and Trump Office of Management and Budget Director Russell Vought announced the unilateral cancellationof $8 billion in federal funding committed to states that voted for Kamala Harris in the 2024 Presidential Election.

"Connecticut has been at the forefront of cutting-edge research to build a more resilient power grid and expand the deployment of affordable, American-made clean energy," said Larson. "This funding was approved by Congress, and for many projects, work on the ground is already complete. The Trump Administration doesn't want to lower costs - they want to stoke division by punishing their political enemies, even at the expense of American innovation, global leadership, and millions of taxpayer dollars. Their top budget official even bragged on social media about canceling projects in blue states. Stop these childish games and reinstate these funds now."

Upon learning that Vought's list included $52.9 million for Connecticut projects, the entire Congressional delegation came together to call outthis illegal attempt to bully blue states.

"The projects that the Department of Energy (DOE) has unilaterally decided to cancel were driving down costs for all our constituents-regardless of their political affiliation," Larson and his colleagues wrote in their letter to Secretary Wright. "Household electric bills have already increased 10% nationally since January 2025 and are poised to spike even further. This Administration's reckless energy policy and award terminations, designed to stifle the development of cheap clean energy and prop up more expensive dirty energy, will only further increase the cost burden for families to keep the lights on."

The members demanded DOE take the following actions by Tuesday, October 14th:

  1. Suspend all terminations and de-obligations and reinstate the projects.

  1. Provide a complete list of affected awards (office, recipient, state, award number, selection date, federal obligation, non-federal cost share, milestone status) along with the project-specific written justification for termination.

  1. Identify the specific statutory and regulatory authorities relied upon for these mass post-award terminations.

  1. Preserve and provide all Department of Energy records, memoranda, and communications related to the review and termination of these awards, including those resulting from the May 2025 Secretarial memorandum "Ensuring Responsibility for Financial Assistance."

  1. Describe DOE's process for recipient appeals and dispute resolution, including timelines, decision-makers, and whether interim funding will be permitted to avoid waste while appeals are pending.

The members' full letter to Secretary Wright is available HERE.

The full list of Department of Energy projects that were terminated, including the 12 in Connecticut, are available HERE.

John B. Larson published this content on October 08, 2025, and is solely responsible for the information contained herein. Distributed via Public Technologies (PUBT), unedited and unaltered, on October 08, 2025 at 18:00 UTC. If you believe the information included in the content is inaccurate or outdated and requires editing or removal, please contact us at [email protected]