Republican bill cuts clean energy programs, critics say it imperils hydrogen hubs and private investment

Democratic members of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Energy and Water Development said the committee’s FY2026 bill eliminates funding for the Department of Energy’s Office of Clean Energy Demonstrations and cuts energy efficiency and renewable programs, moves they said will undercut private investment in large-scale clean energy projects including regional hydrogen hubs. Representative Kaptur, the subcommittee’s ranking member, said the bill “revokes $5,100,000,000 of the bipartisan infrastructure law resources from the Department of Energy programs” and “eliminates funding for the office of clean energy demonstrations,” arguing those changes would slow deployment of projects such as hydrogen, direct air capture and battery recycling. Representative Mervan said the Midwest Hydrogen hub in Northwest Indiana — previously slated to support thousands of jobs — faced pause and uncertainty after funding and tax-credit changes. He told the subcommittee the hub had been expected to generate about 12,000 direct jobs over the project lifetime in manufacturing, infrastructure and energy sectors. Mervan said private partners have paused activity amid federal funding and policy uncertainty. Representative Lemon raised the example of a Northeast grid project called Power Up New England, saying about $400 million from DOE innovation funding had been expected to improve transmission for offshore wind, energy storage and grid upgrades. He said the project was expected to bring enough energy to power about 2 million homes and reduce energy costs by up to $1.5 billion per year, and that an OMB decision and administration actions had frozen that grant. Majority members framed the bill as focusing taxpayer resources on a narrower set of priorities; Chairman Fleischman’s opening remarks highlighted investments in nuclear modernization, Army Corps projects and DOE Office of Science while saying the bill reduced funding by 25% across numerous other DOE programs. Some Republican members said the measure would strengthen domestic energy supplies and national security by prioritizing certain technologies and cleanups. Republican and Democratic members alike raised concerns about the broader effects of funding shifts on jobs and regional projects; Democratic speakers linked the changes to cancellations or pauses in private-sector investments. The subcommittee’s report will be transmitted to the full committee, where members said they would continue to debate the effects on clean energy deployment.