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Committee presses DOE over canceled clean energy demonstrations, grantees seek answers
Summary
Lawmakers pressed Secretary Wright on DOE decisions to cancel dozens of industrial demonstration grants and to freeze or re-evaluate other awards; grantees and members said DOE must provide appeal processes and clear timelines.
Members on the Energy and Commerce subcommittee pressed Secretary Chris Wright about recent cancellations and pauses of demonstration grants administered through DOE's Office of Clean Energy Demonstrations and other grant programs. Republicans and Democrats asked whether technical reviewers were involved in cancellation decisions and whether awardees were given an opportunity to respond.
Wright said those cancellations were ‘‘entirely the Department of Energy’’ decisions, and that most evaluations involved large data requests from awardees; he described a process that included initial notification, an opportunity for informal dialogue, and additional appeal channels. He added, ‘‘Most of the evaluations we're doing, we've sent out large data requests that come back… they have an ability to engage back with us, an informal dialogue with us. And then there's a 2 2 additional appeal processes after that.’’
Members cited specific industry warnings that cancellations could chill private investment. Representative Kathy Castor read into the record an industry analysis arguing that the canceled industrial demonstrations would have leveraged private investment and helped keep facilities competitive. Members also pointed to companies that said conditional loan commitments were withdrawn in recent months, citing CorePower and Aspen Aerogels as examples described during the hearing.
Wright reiterated the department's emphasis on economic viability and national security in reviewing awards and said DOE will continue vetting projects. Committee members asked for lists of affected awards, descriptions of the review criteria used and documentation of appeals or remediation processes; several members said they had not received timely responses from DOE about specific grantees.
Ending: Members demanded written documentation of canceled awards, the technical basis for cancellations, and timelines for appeals; DOE said it would provide additional material and reiterated that some awardees could engage further through appeal processes.
