DOE Funding Offices: What’s Changing in 2025

With administration changes often come new federal funding priorities. Perhaps no federal agency has seen its funding priorities shift as much as the Department of Energy (DOE) this year. The Trump Administration’s “Unleashing American Energy” Executive Order strongly supports traditional energy sources such as oil and coal and rolls back previously existing environmental regulations. This is a major reversal from the big clean energy and electric vehicle (EV) push over the last few years.   

On the funding side, DOE appears slated to be one of the biggest losers of this budgetary round. The President’s FY 2026 discretionary Budget Request provides $46.3 billion in budget authority for FY 2026. Even though Congress is not required to adopt this budget exactly, it is a clear look into the Administration’s funding priorities. This request would result in a decrease of $3.5 billion, or 7%, from the FY 2025 Enacted Budget Level. While not set in stone, the potential budget decrease and priority shifts have led to major administrative office changes. The latest news on DOE program offices is that the Office of Clean Energy Demonstrations (OCED) is slated for closure by the OCED Elimination Act, having recently overseen a massive reduction in staff and budget. Other offices, such as the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) and Grid Deployment Office (GDO) are due for a big decrease in budget and funding influence based on the Presidential Budget Request and comments from Secretary of Energy Wright. The good news: the Administration has long favored federal loans, and despite the large cutback on clean energy loan authority, there should be plenty of federal funding opportunities from the Loan Program Office (LPO) for companies typically excluded from DOE funding over the last few years, such as oil and gas projects. 

Check out our chart for an updated view of the Energy Program Offices and the different types of funding they offer.