Warner worried about Microporous $100M grant

U.S. Sen. Mark Warner, Virginia’s senior Democratic senator, is worried about the possibility of the Trump administration clawing back a $100 million federal grant awarded by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) to Microporous, the Tennessee company planning to invest $1.3 billion to build a lithium-ion battery separator facility at the Southern Virginia Megasite at Berry Hill in Pittsylvania County.

In March, E&E News reported that the DOE was working on a “hit list” of federal grants for renewable energy projects that the Trump administration could claw back. Projects that had spent less than 45% of federal awards had to be reviewed, according to the story.

“Nobody’s seen the list,” Warner said Friday. “[We’re] trying to get answers from the administration. They’re stonewalling us.”

Requests for comment to the DOE and Microporous were not immediately returned.

“To have the federal government pony up the $100 million dollars and all of a sudden that put in … kind of netherworld where we don’t know what’s going to happen with it, it’s unfair,” Warner said. “It’s wrong and it’s stupid economic policy.”

On Jan. 15, Microporous announced its official designation as an awardee of $100 million from the Department of Energy’s Advanced Energy Manufacturing and Recycling Grant Program, which was funded under the Biden Administration’s Infrastructure Law.

The DOE grant was slated to be active over three years, starting April 1 and running through March 31, 2028, a Microporous spokesperson said in January. During that period, the company is expected to submit expenses for reimbursement and receive payments.

If a company were to lose a large federal grant after already setting up financing, Warner warned, the outcome could be disastrous. “The whole project can fall apart,” he said.

On Nov. 13, after months of speculation, state and local officials gathered to announce Microporous had selected the Southern Virginia Megasite at Berry Hill to build the facility and that the project would create 2,015 jobs. At the megasite, Microporous plans to expand into creating battery separators for lithium-ion batteries, which are used in electric vehicles, energy storage systems and other applications.

At the November announcement, some local officials became emotional, recalling how economic development leaders in Southern Virginia strategized a path in the 2000s to build back a regional economy decimated by lost textile and furniture jobs and a dried up tobacco industry.

“We were once known as the world’s largest tobacco market and home of Dan River Mills, or Dan River Fabrics,” Vic Ingram, chair of the Danville-Pittsylvania Regional Industrial Authority, said that day. “Many of us vividly remember those tobacco fields, but moving forward, we will be known nationwide, if not worldwide, for advanced manufacturing technology,” he said.

Warner acknowledged Friday how hard Southern Virginia has worked to rebuild its economy.

“This was the final gem in the efforts to have that kind of anchor at Berry Hill,” he said. “And after all the time, effort and energy, if this is all snatched away for political purposes, it’s a real shame.”

If Microporous were not to move forward with the Berry Hill project, the lost jobs will be especially missed, considering Goodyear announced in February plans to cut about 850 jobs in Danville by the end of the year at the company’s tire manufacturing facility there.

Warner said he’s hopeful Republican congressional members and Gov. Glenn Youngkin will “strongly weigh in” about retaining the Microporous funding. In Pittsylvania County, 71% of voters supported Trump in November.

“There’s no partisan politics in economic development for Virginia, particularly for rural Virginia,” he said.

Additionally, Warner said he’s been working with U.S. Rep. Rob Wittman, R-Hampton Roads, to get answers from the Trump administration about the future of the Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility, the Newport News national research laboratory featuring a particle accelerator.

In February the DOE canceled its search for a new operator and manager of the Newport News Jefferson Lab, which prompted questions about the federally funded lab’s future. In March, the DOE announced Chris Wright had approved a 12-month extension of the contract for Jefferson Science Associates to continue managing and operating the facility.

“Rob Wittman and I have been trying to get the [U.S.] Department of Energy on the line for two weeks,” Warner said. “We finally got it scheduled to make sure the Jefferson Lab funding continues. It kind of felt like they were equal opportunity blowing off [leaders from both political parties].”

Warner also expressed concern Friday about $208 million in federal grants the DOE awarded to Volvo Group for upgrades at its Pulaski County manufacturing plant as well as facilities in Maryland and Pennsylvania. Volvo planned to use the money to upgrade its facilities to more efficiently produce electric vehicles and eventually expand its range of electric models.

“It’s kind of a black hole of how you get answers,” he said. “Was this one of the DOGE bros’ hit jobs? This opaqueness is frustrating and confounding.”