The U.S. Department of Energy announced on Oct. 2 that it would be slashing more than $7.5 billion in funding approved through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Act and the Inflation Reduction Acts.
According to a release from the department, the funds, which were allocated for 223 energy projects nationwide, were found to be wasteful.
“DOE determined that these projects did not adequately advance the nation’s energy needs, were not economically viable, and would not provide a positive return on investment of taxpayer dollars,” the release read.
Some of the Congressionally-approved funds were to be sent to Durango-based nonprofit Four Corners Office for Resource Efficiency, according to a release from the organization.
4CORE Executive Director Jenny Hill said the cuts came after a coalition of state attorneys general, including Colorado AG Phil Weiser, sued the Trump administration, which tried to cut the funds through an executive order early on in 2025. A judge blocked Trump’s cuts in March, according to the lawsuit, and Hill thought her organization’s funding was safe.
“This one was completely out of the blue,” she said. “So we had been working under the assumption since February that these were obligated funds that we were already spending, and that they wouldn't ever be under threat of being cut again. So when this did happen, it was a big shock to us.”
The guiding ethic of 4CORE was to help communities across Southwest Colorado where 65% of households are at or below the federal poverty level – including Ignacio, Cortez, Pagosa Springs and Saguache. The nonprofit lost $531,240 due to the cuts, and as a result had to lay off two employees, reduce hours for two others and roll back operations, the release said. Hill said she had to cut her own time back to 20 hours a week.
“The grant was released in February, (and we added) on three additional communities,” Hill said. “We’re right in the middle of the work. For Pagosa Springs, we’re about 75% done with the transportation planning work. For Saguache we are roughly 50% done. So it really did impact and hurt those two communities when we received the stop work order.”
According to the nonprofit’s website, 4CORE helped provide funding, guidance and community organization for clean energy initiatives, such as solar installation projects and an e-bike lending program for low-income and car-less residents. On Friday, for example, Hill was in Towaoc working to get kids from the Ute Mountain Ute Tribe on e-bikes to help address their transportation needs.
Additionally, the organization sought to help communities become more climate resilient through groundwater conservation projects and sustainable economic practices.
What’s more, Hill said, is that community surveys about 4CORE’s work in both Saguache and Pagosa Springs was positive, regardless of political affiliation.
“The loss of this funding will immediately curtail 4CORE’s planned programs for mobility planning in four communities, and commercial and residential energy efficiency outreach,” the release said.
The reduction in the nonprofit’s staffing has already halted the organizations efforts to gather information and to help communities identify transportation needs, plan for affordable transportation, enable homeowners to make their houses more energy efficient and provide education about sustainable business practices to boost economic resiliency.
To Hill, the move to cut the funding is strictly based on ideology, she said. 4CORE’s work was non-partisan and helped communities save money, increase efficiency and become more environmentally friendly.
“It feels strictly political,” Hill said. “That’s why in 2020 through 2024, we were receiving more grant funds and getting more awards, and kind of wrapping up the services we offered. And then this whole year has been a roller coaster of determining the strategy moving forward.”
sedmondson@durangoherald.com
