WASHINGTON, D.C. — The House passed a bill to increase oversight of the billions of dollars the Biden administration is spending on clean energy projects.

The Clean Energy Demonstration Transparency Act, introduced by Rep. Mike Carey, R-Ohio, would require regular reports on how federal funds are being spent. It passed the House with bipartisan support on Monday.

The measure was Carey’s first piece of legislation to win House passage since he took office in November 2021.

“I was pretty excited about it. I mean, I think it's a commonsense bill, a bipartisan bill. It has to do with transparency and it makes sure that the taxpayers know what they're actually paying for,” Carey said.

The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law has set aside $25 billion so far to test out clean energy technologies such as hydrogen fuel, carbon capture, grid-scale energy storage, advanced nuclear reactors and more.

However, watchdog groups have found wasteful and inefficient spending on previous Department of Energy projects.

Between 2009 and 2021 the Department of Energy invested $684 million in eight coal carbon capture and storage projects. Two ended up getting built, but only one remains operational. Nonetheless the Department of Energy spent $472 million to design four of the unbuilt facilities, according to the U.S. Government Accountability Office.

Officials said greater oversight and accountability could prevent similar situations in the future.

“Now the agencies have to come before Congress and say, hey, this is what we're putting the money toward,” Carey said. “We'll have some say so in making sure that those projects actually can get over the finish line.”

Carey said he was proud to make a difference, even if the bill didn’t make big headlines in the news.

 “We are here in Congress working on major pieces of legislation. Some may not be, as interesting, in the press, but they really are affecting the American taxpayers’ wallets,” he said.

The bill now heads to the Senate, where it is expected to receive bipartisan support.