Five renewable energy industry groups are asking leaders of appropriations committees in Congress to reject the Trump administration’s proposed steep cuts to the US Department of Energy’s budget in fiscal year 2018 for programs supporting sector innovation and deployment.

The administration has proposed a 66% reduction - more than $1.7bn - from those programs from current annualized funding levels. It also seeks to reduce about $2bn (58%) for research by national laboratories in areas such renewable energy, grid reliability, cybersecurity and grid resiliency.