The department has canceled billion of dollars in federal funding for Biden-era energy projects over the past months.
In a major internal reorganization, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) is dismantling several offices that played key roles in the Biden-era push to transition the nation away from fossil fuels, according to a revised organizational chart, released Nov. 20.
The chart shows that the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) and the Office of Clean Energy Demonstrations (OCED) are gone, and offices focusing on nuclear power, hydrocarbons, and fossil-fuel deployment are elevated to replace them.
EERE has long been one of the DOE’s largest program offices. Over the past decade, it oversaw tens of billions of dollars in research and development for wind and solar power, advanced batteries, energy-efficient buildings, and new-energy car technologies. The department has not yet announced how much, if any, of the office’s work may be reassigned under the new structure.
OCED, created in 2021, managed large demonstration-scale projects involving hydrogen, carbon capture, industrial decarbonization, advanced nuclear reactors, and long-duration energy storage. Its most high-profile project is perhaps the $3.5 billion Regional Direct Air Capture Hubs program, which aimed to build facilities across the country capable of removing at least one million tons of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere each year.
Some OCED-funded projects are still in early stages of development. The DOE did not immediately respond to a request for more information over their fate following the organizational overhaul.
Several other offices established in the Biden years also disappeared from the chart. Among them are the Grid Deployment Office, which worked to upgrade the nation’s power lines and sought to boost the domestic battery industry; and the Office of State and Community Energy Programs, which supported state-level energy-efficiency initiatives.
In place of those offices, the DOE introduced several newly named or consolidated units, including a new Office of Hydrocarbons and Geothermal Energy, a renamed Office of Fusion, and a rebranded Loan Programs Office now listed as the Office of Energy Dominance Financing.
The DOE said the changes are aligned with President Donald Trump’s “energy dominance” agenda.
“Thanks to President Trump’s leadership, the Energy Department is aligning its operations to restore commonsense to energy policy, lower costs for American families and businesses, and ensure the responsible stewardship of taxpayer dollars,” Energy Secretary Chris Wright said in a statement.
“These changes will help us better execute the DOE mission of delivering affordable, reliable, and secure American energy for the American people.”
By Bill Pan
