To illustrate his objections to President Trump’s vast initiative to withdraw federal funds from — and essentially cancel — green energy projects across the country, Sen. Adam Schiff (D-CA) is drawing attention to a California hospital project hit by the cuts.
Amidst the myriad effects of the Trump administration’s “cancellation of $7 billion in energy projects — specifically targeting blue states like California,” Schiff notes that a “backup generator for a children’s hospital in Madera” will be impacted.
The Trump admin’s cancellation of $7 billion in energy projects —specifically targeting blue states like California — is lawless and partisan.
— Adam Schiff (@SenAdamSchiff) October 30, 2025
I am calling for an investigation into these devastating cuts. pic.twitter.com/Ysx0sIZOcQ
Schiff, a Trump antagonist who spearheaded one of Trump’s two first-term impeachments — and who remains one of the President’s top targets for political retribution — is referring to the U.S. Department of Energy cancelling a $30 million grant to Faraday Microgrid, which has been building a green energy microgrid and backup power project — with solar panels, batteries and fuel cells — for the Valley Children’s Healthcare hospital in Madera, north of Fresno, California.
Schiff chooses the hospital detail knowing that perhaps no issue is better suited to trigger emotions than policy which negatively affects sick children. The CEO of Valley Children, Todd Suntrapak, struck the same emotional note, saying “the microgrid and batteries will support every power outlet in the building, which is very valuable given that we are entrusted with children’s lives every day.”
The DOE cited missed milestones, which the developer has disputed, among other reasons for the cancellation, and asserted in a statement that it favored a fossil fuel solution for backup power, telling E&E News that there are “far more affordable, reliable, and safe options for providing backup power such as a diesel generator than pursuing a $29 million battery.”
Replying to his own post about the cancellations, Schiff wrote that besides the specific example of the children’s hospital, the cancellations “will impact 79 projects across the Golden State.”
No other state has been hit harder than California.
— Adam Schiff (@SenAdamSchiff) October 30, 2025
This will impact 79 projects across the Golden State, ranging from a backup generator for a children’s hospital in Madera to grants that would help save people hundreds of dollars on their energy bills.
[NOTE: The Trump administration and DOE Secretary Chris Wright have been criticized for partisanship in the green energy cancellations, which have primarily impacted blue states. One article about the DOE defunding surge bears the subtitle: “The Trump administration is pulling billions of dollars in federal support for 16 states that did not vote for the president in 2024.”]
