Colorado Dems seek restoration of $600M in federal funds

By Elyse Apel
The Center Square

Colorado Democrats joined together to sign a letter calling for the U.S. Department of Energy to restore over $600 million in funding for 38 Colorado-affiliated energy projects.

In the letter, Colorado’s U.S. Sens. Michael Bennet and John Hickenlooper, and Colorado U.S. Reps. Joe Neguse, Diana DeGette, Jason Crow and Brittany Pettersen argue the cuts are harmful to the state.

“By cancelling over $600 million in energy-sector funding, much of which directly supported grid reliability, DOE is making it more difficult for Colorado to secure a stable and affordable energy future,” the lawmakers said in the letter.

Altogether, the DOE announced the termination of 321 financial awards for 223 projects nationwide. It applauded the cuts for saving the taxpayers a total of $7.56 billion.

“On day one, the Energy Department began the critical task of reviewing billions of dollars in financial awards, many rushed through in the final months of the Biden administration with inadequate documentation by any reasonable business standard,” said Secretary of Energy Chris Wright.

According to the DOE, of the 321 financial awards terminated, 26% were awarded between the 76 days between Election Day 2024 and Inauguration Day 2025. Those awards alone were valued at over $3.1 billion.

Announced at the end of September, 16 different states were impacted by the cuts. All of those states are Democrat-run, and lawmakers in many of those have pushed back, arguing the cuts are politically motivated.

“Proud to join my colleagues standing up to this political retaliation and demanding accountability so we can honor the commitments made to Colorado families, businesses, and researchers,” said Pettersen, who signed onto the letter.

The DOE argued in its announcement that the cuts that helped identify waste and safeguard taxpayer dollars.

“President Trump promised to protect taxpayer dollars and expand America’s supply of affordable, reliable, and secure energy,” Wright said. “Today’s cancellations deliver on that commitment.”

Wright is a Colorado native, something the lawmakers appealed to in their letter.

“As a Colorado native, you know firsthand that families, farmers, and businesses across our state depend on affordable, dependable energy to power their homes, grow their crops, and sustain local economies,” the letter said. “We urge the DOE to reconsider these cancellations, uphold congressional intent, and reaffirm the federal government’s role in supporting American energy leadership.”

While cutting funding to 38 different Colorado-affiliated projects, there were some major losers. Among those were Colorado State University ($388 million), Colorado School of Mines ($36 million) and The University of Colorado ($8 million).

Award recipients that had their funding cut have 30 days to appeal. That 30 days is up at the end of October.