WASHINGTON - On Oct. 2, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Alumni Network, in partnership with Lawyers for Good Government (L4GG), released a report, “Innovation on Hold: One Year Since DOE’s Mass Award Termination,” that shows how—one year after mass award cancellations—over 60% of terminated projects remain stuck in administrative limbo, nearly 70% of retained awards have received negligible funding in the past six months, and billions in funding across 1,700 newly identified projects remain quietly "ghosted."
One year ago, on October 1, 2025, the U.S. DOE took an unprecedented step by terminating 321 awards worth over $8 billion in clean energy grant funding. DOE has since conceded that these awards were canceled "based solely" on the award recipient state’s political identity (targeting "blue states"). When combined with earlier rounds of cuts in clean energy demonstration projects, over $12.5 billion in Congressionally appropriated energy research, development, and deployment funding was terminated last year.
In April, the DOE Alumni Network released a report, Innovation Interrupted, that tracked a larger pattern of disruptions at play.
This latest analysis of federal spending data, court filings, and direct awardee feedback shows that despite DOE’s statements that project portfolio reviews are complete, the majority of affected projects—whether terminated, "retained," or "ghosted"—remain functionally frozen.
Key Takeaways from the Report
1. Terminated Awards: 61% Stuck in Administrative Limbo
- Disputes ignored: Hundreds of awardees filed informal disputes under federal regulations following the October 1 cancellations. One year later, it’s estimated that 206 awardees (61%) remain stuck in DOE’s dispute process without a clear path to resolution.
- Use of a state’s political identity: Since the last report on the topic, DOE has admitted in federal court that the October 1 terminations were made "based solely" on the recipient's political state ("blue states") rather than any technical, financial, or programmatic merits.
2. Retained Awards: Over 1,000 Retained Projects Still Face Freezes and Bottlenecks
- Funding remains frozen: In April 2026, DOE announced it would "retain" 1,951 projects. Nearly six months later, 69% of active projects have received negligible new funds. Overall, DOE has disbursed just 1% of the total committed funds for retained projects since the April announcement.
- Centralized bottlenecks & stripping of terms: Due to the significant labor associated with simultaneous renegotiation of a large number of awards, understaffing and, in some instances, political direction over routine contracting decisions, administrative throughput has faced significant obstacles and progress remains on hold. Furthermore, some awardees report being required to modify their projects to remove references to energy efficiency, renewable energy, community benefits, and grid resilience.
3. Ghoshttps://www.doealumni.org/innovation-on-holdted & Abandoned FOAs: $3.9 Billion in Additional Funding in Limbo
- 34 Ghosted Funding Opportunities: The report highlights 1,731 additional projects valued at $3.9 billion for whom DOE has ceased communication and funding outlays.
New Dataset
Along with the report, the DOE Alumni Network now has a comprehensive dataset that highlights the thousands of awards that were terminated and retained over the past year. The dataset is adapted from the government’s federal spending database, USAspending.gov.
To read the full report, go here: https://www.doealumni.org/innovation-on-hold
