Amit Mehta Vacates Us Energy Department Cuts to 11 Grants
A federal judge vacated us energy department cancellations of $82.1 million in 11 clean energy grants on Thursday, restoring the awards to projects in New York, Oregon, Connecticut, Minnesota and Colorado. Judge Amit Mehta entered judgment for the plaintiffs in a ruling that can be appealed, but it immediately changes the status of the cancelled funding.
Amit Mehta Ruling
Mehta wrote, “The Court enters judgment in favor of Plaintiffs,” and added, “This is a final, appealable judgment.” The U.S. Department of Energy is expected to reinstate the money after the decision.
The plaintiffs were a coalition led by the American Institute of Chemical Engineers. One of the named grant recipients, the New Buildings Institute, had four Oregon grants cancelled. The contested awards also included a $49.8 million award to the American Institute of Chemical Engineers and a $6.1 million award to Proton Energy Systems Inc.
Energy Department Grants
All 11 grants came from DOE’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy. That office was consolidated last year into DOE’s Office of Critical Minerals and Energy Innovation, a change that left the cancelled awards under a new internal structure when the dispute reached court.
The case followed October 2025 terminations that were part of more than $7.5 billion in financial awards to clean energy projects in states that voted for former Vice President Kamala Harris. The plaintiffs said the department did not contest that a primary reason for the cancellations was that the grantees were located in those states.
Wright And Vought
On Wednesday, Energy Secretary Chris Wright told the House Science, Space, and Technology Committee, “We did not involve politics in the decision-making of our review process. Hands down,” and also said, “I keep hearing that charge. It’s bulls–t, we’re going to say it a million times.”
The plaintiffs cited a post from Russell Vought that said, “Nearly $8 billion in Green New Scam funding to fuel the Left's climate agenda is being cancelled. More info to come from @ENERGY. The projects are in the following states: CA, CO, CT, DE, HI, IL, MD, MA, MN, NH, NJ, NM, NY, OR, VT, WA.”
The ruling gives the department a clear path to restore the 11 grants, including the four Oregon awards tied to the New Buildings Institute and other projects spread across five states. Because Mehta made the judgment final and appealable, the dispute can move to the next legal step without changing the order he entered on Thursday.
