The grift of all grifts.

For much of its five-decade history, the Colorado Energy Office was a small department with a handful of employees who supported practical, cost-saving energy conservation measures. From 2010 to 2022, records show, the office received an average of $7 million per year from the U.S. Department of Energy. 

All that changed after the Biden administration and Congress approved hundreds of billions of dollars in new spending to provide “a more equitable, low-carbon, and clean energy economy.” In fiscal year 2024, Colorado’s state energy office was slated to receive $157.5 million from the energy department, along with another $156 million from the Environmental Protection Agency. The Biden team’s defeat in the 2024 election didn’t stop the gusher, either, as an additional $60 million in funding was allocated after voters elected Trump and his promise to halt the spending.

A RealClearInvestigations search of government data shows that the Colorado Energy Office was just one of many agencies and groups across the country that received exponential increases in federal grants during Biden’s last two years as part of the unprecedented attempt to refashion federal agencies into the finance engines that would transform the U.S. energy sector to a renewable, Net Zero future.

Just recently, a federal appeals court ruled against Trump that may result in him having to return the funds doled out to the nonprofits and state bodies. Hopefully, the Administration will appeal and win. Some examples RCI outlines of the jumps in funding for state energy offies are:

  • Colorado Energy Office: Averaged ~$7 million per year (2010–2022); slated for $157.5 million from DOE + $156 million from EPA in FY2024, plus tens of millions more after the 2024 election.
  • New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA): Averaged $5.2 million annually (2015–2021); received $335 million in 2024 (plus $30 million post-election).
  • California Energy Commission: Averaged $3.1 million (2015–2021); received grants exceeding $1 billion in late 2024, including a $630.5 million post-election award.
  • Roughly $9.5 billion in awards went to state and county energy programs starting in FY2024. Much of the money was approved in a compressed 18-month window (especially 2023–early 2025), including a post-election “frenzy.”
  • Grants covered grid resilience, renewable integration, methane reduction, home weatherization, and “initial guidance” for future rebate programs. Some large awards (e.g., $70 million × 2 for Colorado, $580 million for California, >$310 million for New York) funded planning and administration rather than immediate infrastructure.

Some people who keep an eye on government spending — like investigator Jeremy Portnoy from OpenTheBooks and the government’s own internal watchdogs — said the grants were handed out way too fast and in amounts that were just too big. They worried this rushed process skipped proper checks, so a lot of the money could get wasted or stolen, and some groups ended up with more cash than they could actually manage.

After Trump won the 2024 election and his team started trying to freeze or take back some of that money, 13 Democrat state attorneys general sued to force the government to release the funds claiming the cuts unfairly targeted blue states and would hurt their climate goals. Some of the grants were later given back, but the biggest ones are still being fought over.

After Congress approved a huge amount of money to fight climate change, the government looked for groups that could hand out that cash to states and cities. They ended up giving big grants to many public and private organizations that had never handled that much money before, as well as to regular state energy offices.

These grants were only a small piece of all the green-energy spending under Biden. Still, the sudden $9.5 billion promised to state and county energy programs starting in 2024 — and then Trump’s later efforts to take some of it back — shows how hard it is for people to plan ahead when the White House keeps changing direction, especially on hot political topics.

The money was obviously another slush fund for climate cultists to soak off of while enriching themselves in the process.