Trump DOE budget proposes significant cuts in Idaho

The Trump administration presented its proposed budget for the Department of Energy to Congress Tuesday. Overall, the proposal cuts Idaho National Laboratory budgets by about $100 million. The cuts zero-out funding for transmission reliability, resilient distribution systems, energy storage, and cybersecurity for energy delivery systems. The plan also makes big cuts in fuel cycle research and renewable energy research and development. There is some significant increase in funding for non-defense environmental cleanup. Additionally, the Idaho Operations Office budget was also cut by $113.2 million, more than half of its Fiscal Year 2017 level. You can see the INL component of the Department of Energy budget here.
DOE-Idaho spokesman Tim Jackson said, “The FY18 Presidential Budget request released today details the Department of Energy and program levels of funding. This is the beginning of the process for the FY18 budget, and while the overall budget is determined, we will be focused on our important work.”