Energy Department will no longer give $200 million in subsidies to energy companies linked to Chinese government, Fox News report.
The administration will notify congressional staff in a conference call on the evening of May 22, 2023, in which DOE officials will be based in Texas. micro bust is ineligible for the large grant originally specified for the company in the 2021 infrastructure package.
Microvast, which develops lithium-ion battery technology, condemned by the Republican Party Having “deep ties” with China.Republican Party wrote a letter He expressed concern to Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm in December 2022 about the government’s ability to “protect American taxpayer money.”
“Americans have a right to know why their tax dollars are being used to fund companies like Microvast, which have deep ties to China,” said a Republican congressman. Cathy McMorris Rogers. “Nothing is off the table. There are many questions about the Biden administration.”
But in March 2023, Granholm touted China’s renewable energy program, saying, “The amount of money China is investing in clean energy is, as you know, encouraging.” “China is by far the leading country in attracting investments in the energy transition,” Granholm added, before reinforcing his own statement at a congressional hearing a few days later.
According to Fox News, Microvast was founded in Stafford, Texas in 2006, at the same time its subsidiary Microvast Power Systems was also founded in Huzhou, China. Microvast currently lists its office location in Huzhou, Zhejiang, China. Support page.
According to Fox News, the company’s third-quarter financial disclosures filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission showed that only 3% of its revenue came from the United States and 69% from China. In the same filing, the company allegedly admitted that the Chinese government “exercises significant influence” over its business operations and “may intervene at any time and without notice.”
“As the responsible administrator of the U.S. taxpayer, the Department of Energy maintains a rigorous review process prior to the release of granted funds and is committed to participating in grant negotiations based on DOE competitive funding opportunities. It’s not unusual for selected companies to ultimately not receive funding,” a DOE spokesperson told Fox News.
“The ministry has suspended negotiations and can confirm that it has chosen not to award funding to Microbus from this competitive funding opportunity,” the statement added.
A spokesman did not give a reason for the suspension of talks.
Microbust did not respond to a request for comment.
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