The fiscal 2026 \u201cminibus\u201d package signed this month by President Donald Trump could have ripple effects across the energy industry \u2014 from nuclear power to hydrogen.<\/p>\n
Many details are yet to emerge about how the Department of Energy plans to spend $49 billion now headed its way from Congress, including DOE\u2019s strategy to support advanced nuclear reactors, boost emerging technologies and build data centers on federal land.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt will be interesting to see how they implement this money,\u201d said Alice Wu, a policy manager at the Federation of American Scientists.<\/p>\n
The spending package, which funds DOE through Sept. 30, resulted from a bipartisan compromise that largely rejected Trump\u2019s push to decimate many energy and technology programs.<\/p>\n
Some agencies could still shut down if Congress doesn\u2019t come to an agreement on six other pending fiscal 2026 bills by the end of the week, but agencies like DOE, EPA and the Interior Department would not be affected.<\/p>\n
Rep. Chuck Fleischmann (R-Tenn.), chair of the House Energy and Water Development Appropriations Subcommittee, said in a statement about the package the president signed: \u201cAmerica needs more energy, and we cannot fail \u2014 and we did not fail \u2014 in this bill.\u201d<\/p>\n
Democrats also praised the package for avoiding Trump\u2019s call to eliminate programs such as weatherization assistance.<\/p>\n
The plan \u201creasserts Congress\u2019 power of the purse and will prevent this administration from having the legal authority to decide for itself how to spend these taxpayer funds again,\u201d said Sen. Patty Murray of Washington, the top Democrat on the Senate Appropriations Committee in a statement.<\/p>\n
The law\u2019s fingerprints already are appearing in DOE policy.<\/p>\n
On Tuesday, DOE said it would reverse its \u201cindirect cost\u201d rates<\/a> at the law\u2019s direction, ending a plan from last year that would have resulted in more than $400 million<\/a> cut annually in grants to colleges and universities. DOE had sought to cap indirect costs for those programs, resulting in lawsuits.<\/p>\n DOE did not respond to a request for comment about the spending package.<\/p>\n Here are three numbers to watch as the Trump administration implements the law<\/a> on energy programs.<\/p>\n 10 percent<\/p>\n The approximate $3.1 billion for the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy \u2014 a 10 percent reduction from the most recent funding level \u2014 is notable because the administration had been seeking much deeper cuts for clean energy programs.<\/p>\n While funding for EERE\u2019s wind and solar offices are slated to fall 27 and 31 percent, respectively, in comparison to the most recent budget, the amount is much higher than the zeroed-out numbers for those sub-offices floated by the administration.<\/p>\n Within EERE \u2014 which is now part of the newly minted Office of Critical Minerals and Energy Innovation \u2014 most offices are being cut by 15 percent or less, including funding for advanced vehicles, bioenergy, and hydrogen and fuel cells.<\/p>\n Geothermal, a priority of Energy Secretary Chris Wright, is slated to rise 27 percent. The water office within EERE, which supports technologies like tidal energy, will increase 10 percent under the plan.<\/p>\n \u201cGetting this bill passed, given the current political environment, a Republican trifecta \u2026 is ultimately a win\u201d for many clean energy offices, said Wu.<\/p>\n At the same time, the spending package slashes funding for other offices, perhaps most notably the Office of Clean Energy Demonstrations, which is not slated to receive any appropriations this year.<\/p>\n In 2025, the majority of staffers for OCED \u2014 which oversaw billions of dollars from the 2021 infrastructure law \u2014 departed under a deferred resignation program announced by the administration.<\/p>\n The package funds DOE under its former structure, not reflecting a reorganization last year led by Wright. That doesn\u2019t mean Congress rejected the reorganization, but it could add administrative work for DOE staffers navigating the money flow, analysts said.<\/p>\n On Wednesday, the Office of Critical Minerals and Energy Innovation unveiled a reorganization<\/a> of offices that absorbs the old EERE structure.<\/p>\n Under the plan, a new Office of Energy Technology will oversee development of technologies like hydropower, while an Office of Innovation, Affordability and Consumer Choice will have jurisdiction over appliance standards.<\/p>\n Assistant Secretary of Energy Audrey Robertson said the realignment would allow DOE to \u201cmore effectively direct its resources.\u201d<\/p>\n Wu said she will be watching closely how money for wind, solar and electric vehicle programs is spent, considering administration criticism of federal funding for those resources. Last year, Democrats slammed DOE<\/a> for releasing plans to divert funding for those programs, even though Congress was operating under a continuing resolution.<\/p>\n It\u2019s unclear if that might happen again, according to Wu.<\/p>\n If it did, \u201cthere would likely be impacts on long-term research projects, priorities, and staffing within the national laboratory system,\u201d said Paul Donohoo-Vallett, a former deputy director of deployment and infrastructure at DOE, in an emailed analysis of the funding levels.<\/p>\n $5.2 billion<\/p>\n Lawmakers shifted almost $5.2 billion in unobligated DOE funding from the 2021 bipartisan infrastructure law to other programs, giving a major boost to the advanced nuclear industry in the process.<\/p>\n The move also reflects concerns among members of Congress about growing grid bottlenecks, Wu said.<\/p>\n About half of the transferred funding came from carbon management projects, including $1 billion that had been slated for regional direct air capture hubs that were a priority of the Biden administration. Also shifted for other purposes was roughly $950 million for carbon capture demonstration projects.<\/p>\n Supporters of the shuffle said the money was needed more in other industries.<\/p>\n But Madelyn Morrison, director of government affairs for the Carbon Capture Coalition, said in a statement that the appropriations plan \u201crisks ceding long-standing leadership<\/a> in the sector.\u201d<\/p>\n The law also transfers more than $1.2 billion from the Civil Nuclear Credit Program, which supports existing nuclear reactors at risk of retirement, to other programs. Congress did not rescind or shift billions of dollars slated to develop hydrogen hubs to transport and produce fuel, leaving the fate of that initiative unclear.<\/p>\n The advanced nuclear industry stands to benefit from the cash infusion through various programs, including more than $3 billion for advanced reactor demonstration projects and $150 million for credit subsidies for loans for new small modular reactors, according to Donohoo-Vallett.<\/p>\n The boost in credit subsidies would enable DOE \u201cto provide loans likely in the range of billions of dollars\u201d for advanced reactors, he wrote.<\/p>\n Wright has been a staunch supporter of nuclear, vowing to advance the industry through DOE\u2019s loan office and other means.<\/p>\n Clay Sell, CEO of advanced reactor company X-energy, praised Trump\u2019s signing of the bill, saying in a statement that DOE\u2019s support has helped the company advance from \u201cconcept to a commercial pipeline.\u201d<\/p>\n Another winner in the cash shuffle is the grid deployment office, which is slated to receive $375 million to \u201cenhance the domestic supply chain for the manufacture of distribution and power transformers, components, and materials, and electric grid components\u201d under the law.<\/p>\n That money essentially allows the office \u2014 which was moved as part of a DOE reorganization last year \u2014 to receive more than triple its most recent annual funding level, Wu said.<\/p>\n Energy companies have been expressing concerns about shortages of grid equipment as electricity demand surges from the artificial intelligence boom. According to an October report from Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory<\/a>, aging grid infrastructure is a chief driver of rising electricity costs.<\/p>\n $33 million<\/p>\n The minibus funded Energy Star \u2014 a voluntary program allowing companies to display efficiency labels on products \u2014 at approximately $33 million at EPA, ending a battle for now over the program\u2019s survival. Energy Star has been jointly run with DOE, although EPA is the lead agency.<\/p>\n The fiscal 2026 level keeps funding steady for the program, which had been eyed for elimination by the Trump administration last year. It previously was funded at $36 million.<\/p>\n But questions remain about how Energy Star will operate in the months ahead, considering the number of staff departures from EPA and DOE last year, efficiency experts say.<\/p>\n The program \u201chas lost a lot of institutional knowledge and expertise,\u201d said Ben Evans, federal legislative director at the U.S. Green Building Council. \u201cThey can\u2019t rebuild it overnight.\u201d<\/p>\n It also is unclear how the administration will use the funding, considering the likely need for rehires and Energy Star\u2019s oversight of voluntary standards in multiple sectors, including buildings.<\/p>\n In May, EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin<\/a> called for privatizing Energy Star, saying it could be \u201crun outside of the government.\u201d Since then, Consumer Reports \u2014 which distributes a magazine rating products \u2014 advocated to take over the program, according to lobbying reports<\/a> with the Senate.<\/p>\n Unlike previous years, Congress funded Energy Star with a separate line item, a move that its supporters said could help protect it in the future. The line item \u201csets a strong precedent\u201d that should provide \u201cmore predictability,\u201d Evans said.<\/p>\n