July 21, 2025 10:52 AM UTC

Analysis: Evans & Fellow Republicans Likely Responsible for the Death of a Clean-Energy Plant in CO-08

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• by: Jason Salzman

(Promoted by Colorado Pols)

Originally posted at the Colorado Times Recorder

A clean energy company pulled the plug on a $190 million battery facility in the district of U.S. Rep. Gabe Evans (R-CO) in early May, a few weeks before Evans and fellow House Republicans voted for the first version of the so-called Big Beautiful Bill, which removed federal tax credits for clean energy projects.

The timing of the decision by the company, Amprius Technologies, has raised the question of whether Evans and fellow Republicans are nonetheless responsible for the death of the plant.

In May, critics pounced on Evans’ support for the House bill, which spelled death for numerous clean energy projects, calling Evans a hypocrite for previously promoting himself as a clean-energy proponent and blaming him and Republicans for the loss of the Amprius facility.

Then, about two weeks after he voted for the bill, which passed by a single vote on May 22, Evans surprised many political observers by signing a letter stating that the bill he’d just supported could lead to the cancellation of clean energy projects — and calling on the Senate to change it.

The Big Beautiful Bill “jeopardizes ongoing development, discourages long-term investment, and could significantly delay or cancel energy infrastructure projects across the country,” stated the letter.

Trump later signed the final version of the budget bill into law. It contained energy tax credits that were not included in the first House bill, but members of the far-right Freedom Caucus in the House were reportedly promised by the Trump administration that the green projects in the bill would be blocked.

“We believe the administration is aligned with us on terminating those Green New Scam subsidies. We believe we’re going to get 90-plus percent of all future projects terminated,” Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas), a member of the House Freedom Caucus, told Politico after the bill was passed. “And we talked to lawyers in the administration. We believe that’s true.”

Politico reported that Trump’s pledge was key in persuading them to vote for the final version of the Big Beautiful Bill.

Evans’ office has said that not only does he still support an all-of-the-above energy strategy, but he fought for clean energy changes included in the final bill, and Amprius reconsidered the project before the Big Beautiful Bill was made public.

That’s true, according to Amprius, which first told its shareholders on March 20 that it was reconsidering the project “based on, among other factors, the timing and availability of funding.”

“Now that the designs are effectively complete for Colorado, we will continue to monitor the larger industry dynamics driving our ability to proceed further,” Aprius wrote shareholders. “The scope and schedule of the construction will be determined based on, among other factors, the timing and availability of funding. We are also monitoring the overall sector for changes in demand, supply, battery cost structure, government incentives, trade tariffs, and other considerations that may also influence our decision, including whether to proceed with construction at all.”

Then Amprius told shareholders on May 8 that the project was on hold, even though the designs were completed.

“At this time, there are no plans to move forward with the Colorado facility,” wrote Amprius. “The designs for this project are effectively complete, and we are continuing to monitor the larger industry dynamics associated with building a factory in the United States. Changes in demand, supply, battery cost structure, government incentives, trade tariffs, and other considerations, including the timing and availability of funding will influence our decision on the next steps and timing. We have secured adequate capacity for the foreseeable future through our contract manufacturing network and plan to further expand that in 2025 without deploying our capital.”

At the end of last year, after Trump was elected and before Amprius began to reconsider the facility, Republicans were targeting clean energy tax incentives and subsidies. Trump’s funding freeze of Inflation Reduction Act programs effectively ended numerous clean energy projects at the beginning of this year, which led to at least two other companies canceling plans for billion-dollar battery plants.

And before he was elected, during last year’s campaign, Trump repeatedly slammed the funding for green energy in the Inflation Reduction Act. Evans and Trump endorsed each other in 2024.

All this, plus Trump’s tariff swings, fueled the business climate that experts say led to Amprius’ decision to cancel the project, making Republicans, including Evans, likely responsible.

For his part, Evans said in a statement to The Denver Post, “As the representative for one of the highest energy producing districts in the country, I fought hard to protect the clean energy tax credits in the ‘One Big Beautiful Bill’ and ensure the tax on clean energy was removed.”

In 2023, when Amprius first announced its plan to build a battery factory in Brighton, it aimed to employ 332 people at an average wage of $68,000. The U.S. Department of Energy was to provide $50 million from the infrastructure law, and local governments also were offering a total of about $6 million in incentives from Colorado and Brighton.

CORRECTION: An initial version of this article stated that Amprius announced its decision to pause the Brighton facility on June 24, a few weeks prior to the House vote on the Big Beautiful Bill. In fact, the company’s decision to halt the project came a few weeks before the House first voted on the bill.