House Democrats Highlight How Republican Energy and Water Development Funding Bill Increases Energy Costs

WASHINGTON — During today’s House Appropriations subcommittee markup of the 2025 Energy and Water Development and Related Agencies funding bill, House Democrats highlighted how the bill raises costs for American households, undermines infrastructure investments, and weakens our national security.

House Republicans’ Energy and Water bill provides $59 billion. Within that amount, the bill provides $25 billion for nondefense programs, a cut of over $1.4 billion, or 5.4 percent, below the fiscal year 2024 enacted level, and $34 billion for defense programs, an increase of $906 million, or 2.7 percent, above the fiscal year 2024 enacted level, creating a further disparity between domestic and defense programs. The legislation:

• Increases energy costs and jeopardizes energy security by cutting the Department of Energy’s Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy programs by $1.5 billion or 43 percent.
• Hurts United States’ competitiveness, fails to confront the climate crisis, and eliminates good-paying jobs by revoking $8 billion from the Department of Energy's Loans Programs, an increasingly successful set of programs that promote climate-friendly innovation and American manufacturing.
• Targets disadvantaged communities by slashing the Weatherization Assistance Program which will drive up the cost of home energy bills for approximately 54,000 low-income homes and by prohibiting funding related to the Department of Energy’s Justice40 initiative.

“Energy and water undergird America’s way of life. They are not optional — they are essential to sustaining life. Fresh water is not optional. It is essential to life. Dependable, safe energy powers our economy and makes life possible across our vast continent. Sadly, this Republican Energy and Water bill does not meet our nation’s imperative for the future — to become energy independent in perpetuity. Their bill fails to meet our nation’s obligation to assure dependable, affordable energy and water to millions of our citizens. And it fails to catch up to the future of living in a nation that is projected to grow to 400 million people by 2050 – four times more people than when World War II ended,” Energy and Water Development and Related Agencies Appropriations Subcommittee Chairwoman Marcy Kaptur (D-OH-09) said. “The Department of Energy’s clean energy programs drive down energy costs to make it cheaper to expand domestic energy sources. If the United States does not lead on these new energy technologies, competitors like China will undercut us and monopolize those markets. That is their goal. America cannot acquiesce.”

Congresswoman Kaptur’s full remarks are here.

“We have a rare opportunity in this subcommittee to make strategic investments that lower energy costs for American families, that promote America’s energy independence, and to support a robust and modern manufacturing sector. This is a real chance to ensure America’s resiliency in the face of a changing climate and shifting global economy. But that is not what the majority has chosen,” Appropriations Committee Ranking Member Rosa DeLauro (D-CT-03) said. “Instead, the majority has cut domestic investments in this bill by over five percent, and with it, they are increasing energy costs, jeopardizing our energy independence and national security, hurting our global competitiveness, failing to confront the climate crisis, and putting tens of thousands of good-paying manufacturing jobs at risk.Even though some of our colleagues on the other side of the aisle may want to refuse the overwhelming evidence, deny the scientific consensus, and ignore the worsening natural disasters that have become more severe and more common in each of our districts, we must aggressively transform our energy sector to adapt to our climate reality.”

Congresswoman DeLauro’s full remarks are here.

A summary of House Republicans’ 2025 Energy and Water Development and Related Agencies funding bill is here. A fact sheet is here. Additional information on how this bill cripples the clean energy economy is here. The text of the bill is here. Information on Community Project Funding in the bill is here.

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