In addition to major cuts to renewable energy incentives in HR1, House Republicans on the Appropriations Committee are working to further gut any support for renewables in the 2026 Energy and Water Development and Related Agencies funding bill.
The bill would decrease the Dept. of Energy’s budget by $1.4 billion and cut the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy programs nearly in half to focus only on technologies that “promote firm baseload power.” The bill specifically requests no funding for solar and wind energy R&D.
According to House Appropriations Committee Democrats, the bill would revoke $5.1 billion of Bipartisan Infrastructure Law resources from DOE’s programs that support hydrogen, direct air capture, carbon dioxide transportation infrastructure, battery recycling and energy improvements in public schools.
The bill would also cut $110 million from the Advanced Research Projects Agency – Energy (ARPA-E), which focuses on rapid development of innovative energy technologies. And it would decrease the Loan Programs Office budget, which has recently backed solar + storage loans for Puerto Rico and a U.S. solar panel factory, by $20 million.
“Sadly, this Republican Energy and Water bill does not meet our nation’s imperative for the future,” said Energy and Water Development and Related Agencies Appropriations Subcommittee Ranking Member Marcy Kaptur (D-OH-09) in her opening remarks on the bill. “America must become energy independent in perpetuity. This bill fails to address the cost-of-living crisis and instead will result in higher energy bills for families and businesses. China is investing record levels in energy, but this bill retreats from U.S. global leadership in the future clean energy economy. America can and must do better. America’s future relies on the new age frontiers of energy and water.”
