Energy Outlook

By: Jacob Kim

In a move that could seriously derail America’s clean energy momentum, the U.S. Department of Energy is preparing to cancel over $8.45 billion in conditionally approved loans and loan guarantees for major climate projects. Among those on the chopping block are Sunnova’s Project Hestia — which aimed to bring rooftop solar and battery storage to 115,000 low-income homes — a clean hydrogen factory in Nebraska, and a transmission line in New Jersey to support offshore wind. These are not minor tweaks to federal budgeting. They are direct blows to the infrastructure needed to combat climate change at scale.

The justification? Political turnover, financial headwinds, and concerns over government overreach. The Trump administration’s Energy Department, now led by Chris Wright, is framing this mass cancellation as a return to fiscal “common sense,” shrinking what it calls the government’s “green bank.” But this shortsighted approach ignores the long-term cost of climate inaction.

Canceling these loans is not just about financial reprioritization — it’s about abandoning the very tools that help decarbonize the energy sector and support climate resilience. Sunnova’s now-abandoned Project Hestia wasn’t just a solar giveaway; it would have created thousands of jobs and expanded access to clean power for communities often left behind in the energy transition. Similarly, the Monolith Nebraska project was a rare example of private and public sectors teaming up to scale clean hydrogen — a fuel critical to decarbonizing heavy industry and agriculture.

These projects, imperfect as they may be, represent the kind of large-scale investment required to make clean energy viable for real people, not just wealthy early adopters. Slashing this funding sends a chilling message to investors, innovators, and everyday Americans: clean energy is optional again. It’s a message completely out of step with scientific reality — and one that undermines the very goals the U.S. claimed to champion in global climate agreements.

Worse, the cancellation of the New Jersey Clean Energy Corridor jeopardizes the future of offshore wind power on the East Coast — just as states were beginning to gear up for the infrastructure needed to handle renewable generation. Without federal backing, grid upgrades, which are critical to connecting wind and solar projects to population centers, become harder and slower to achieve.

As we’ve discussed before, climate change is not waiting. Every delay in scaling clean power and decarbonizing infrastructure adds to the toll of extreme weather, environmental injustice, and economic instability. Clean energy loans are not a fantasy. They are strategic investments in a livable future — and the return is measured not just in dollars, but in lives, jobs, and atmospheric stability.

In the name of cutting costs, this wave of cancellations may end up costing far more — not just in climate damage, but in lost leadership, innovation, and public trust. At a time when the world needs bold action, retreating into austerity is not just negligent — it’s dangerous.