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The decades-old lab serves as the federal government’s primary hub for creating and improving energy technologies
Brendan RasciusIn New YorkTuesday 02 December 2025 22:01 GMTComments
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President Donald Trump’s Department of Energy has stripped the words “renewable energy” from the National Renewable Energy Laboratory.
The decades-old research facility — headquartered in Golden, Colorado — will now be called the National Laboratory of the Rockies, the DOE announced on Monday.
“The energy crisis we face today is unlike the crisis that gave rise to NREL,” Assistant Secretary of Energy Audrey Robertson said in a news release. “We are no longer picking and choosing energy sources. Our highest priority is to invest in the scientific capabilities that will restore American manufacturing, drive down costs, and help this country meet its soaring energy demand.”
The laboratory serves as the federal government’s primary hub for creating and improving energy technologies that ensure plentiful power at lower costs. Historically, it has largely focused on renewable energy, such as solar and wind.
Established in the wake of the 1973 oil crisis, it was created to address energy shortages triggered by higher oil prices and reduced imports. It was initially named the Solar Energy Research Institute, but it was renamed the NREL under President George H.W. Bush.
open image in galleryThe Department of Energy, led by Secretary Chris Wright, announced that the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) has been renamed the National Laboratory of the Rockies. (Getty Images)In the 2010s, the lab conducted research on reducing the cost of ethanol and improving the efficiency of solar cells. In 2021, it launched a cybersecurity office “to accelerate the lab's leadership in securing renewable energy technologies.” The same year, then-President Joe Biden visited the laboratory, where he called for further investment in renewables.
“For decades, this laboratory and its scientific capabilities have pushed the boundaries of what's possible and delivered impact to the nation,” Jud Virden, the laboratory’s director, said in the release.
“This new name embraces a broader applied energy mission entrusted to us by the Department of Energy to deliver a more affordable and secure energy future for all,” Virden added.
open image in galleryLocated in Golden, Colorado, the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) had long been America's chief research center for renewable energy (Getty Images)The rebranding comes as the Trump administration has signaled a willingness to tap fossil fuels — not just renewable energy — as a source of power.
Shortly after returning to office in January, Trump signed an executive order aiming to reduce energy costs by cutting “burdensome and ideologically motivated regulations.” The same month, the Republican president began the process of withdrawing the U.S. from the Paris Climate Accords and declared a national energy emergency, directing agencies to use all available authorities to increase energy production.
Trump himself has also long expressed skepticism of certain forms of clean energy, including wind power. Earlier this year, he called on the U.K. government to “stop with the costly and unsightly windmills” and instead conduct more drilling for oil offshore.
In May, the DOE fired over 100 employees at the NREL, according to Colorado Public Radio.
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open image in galleryThen-President Joe Biden spoke at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory in Colorado on September 14, 2021 (AFP via Getty Images)Following the laboratory’s name change, some groups expressed disapproval.
“Solar, wind, and other clean energy technologies are the cheapest and most cost-effective resources in Colorado, and they have been for years,” Michael Hiatt, the deputy managing attorney for Earthjustice in the Rocky Mountains, told The Colorado Sun. “Changing NREL’s name will not change that fact.”
“The reality is that the Trump administration’s attacks on clean energy and its attempts to prop up uneconomic coal and gas plants are increasing costs and causing unnecessary energy affordability burdens for millions of Americans,” Hiatt added.
In a post on X, Senator Michael Bennett, a Colorado Democrat, called for the newly named lab to uphold its mission.
“Under its new name, the Lab must continue its groundbreaking work to achieve an affordable, net-zero economy and meet our nation’s complex energy challenges,” Bennet wrote.
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