The race to dominate America’s hydrogen economy now hangs on a single, disruptive question: Will President Donald Trump rip away the federal support that is essentially keeping Plug Power (PLUG) alive?

Reports show that the White House has ordered fresh audits of every clean energy grant and loan issued under former President Joe Biden, including the $1.66 billion Department of Energy (DOE) guarantee that Plug Power secured only four months ago.

Investors who thought the loan locked in a lifeline may have to price in that if the review turns hostile, Plug’s access to cheap federal capital will vanish. In turn, its cash burn could spike again. And that will cause PLUG stock to face another leg down.

Trump May End Subsidies Soon

The president has instructed the DOE Loan Programs Office to audit billions in outstanding awards, with hydrogen, battery, and grid projects at the top of the list. House Republicans have moved in parallel. A May budget proposal would claw back unspent Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) funds, phase out the technology‑neutral 45Y production credit, and kill the 45V hydrogen credit after 2025.

These credits underpin $145 billion in announced clean energy investment; losing them would freeze new projects and raise power prices in several states.

Trump has called renewable subsidies “Green New Scam” and promisec to unleash "liquid gold,” code for oil (CBN25). Energy analysts warn that such positioning could starve hydrogen developers of tax equity and project finance.

Plug Power is definitely in trouble here, as its own SEC filings say that DOE funding is “subject to political administration changes.”

Plug has not yet met several technical milestones, and water‑supply problems at its Georgia plant could delay loan disbursement even without a policy reversal. If Trump yanks the guarantee, Plug may need to refinance hundreds of millions worth of debt at junk‑level rates.

The Lifeline at Stake: $1.66 Billion and IRA Tax Credits

The DOE gave Plug a massive loan guarantee on January 16, 2025, and management trumpeted the deal as proof that the hydrogen build‑out would accelerate. However, the Trump administration has since put that loan under review, essentially putting it on hold. Although Plug Power President Sanjay Shrestha said the company views the contract as “federally binding” and expect it to hold up, executives say they are exploring alternate funding sources given the uncertainty. 

Plus, Plug ended Q1 with $295.8 million of unrestricted cash after slashing capital expenditures and launching “Project Quantum Leap,” a cost‑cutting program meant to trim $150 million to $200 million a year. It slowed the company’s quarterly burn, but Plug still carried a cumulative deficit of nearly $6.8 billion.

Should Investors Buy Plug Power Now?

If Trump completes his rollback, the company must survive on commercial revenues and private capital. Service revenue is growing, and the core customer base still needs hydrogen forklifts.

However, Plug’s own projections show negative operating income until at least 2027, even with full DOE support.

That leaves a binary outcome. Either audits conclude with only minor tweaks, the loan disburses, and Congress preserves enough of the IRA to keep project economics intact, or the lifeline breaks, and Plug becomes a capital‑intensive manufacturer without cheap capital. I believe the latter will lead to bankruptcy.

PLUG stock could be worth buying if you want a high-risk, high-reward bet for your portfolio, but even then, there are other stocks in this environment with similar upside potential and lower downside risk. As such, I wouldn’t buy PLUG stock now.