Obama Administration May Be Close To Announcing Battery Grants
05 8월 2009 - 4:25AM
Dow Jones News
The Obama administration could be close to making announcements
about how it plans to award $2 billion in grants to develop
batteries that could be used in electric vehicles.
Michigan is gearing up for a Wednesday appearance by U.S. Vice
President Joe Biden, hoping that he will make an announcement about
federal support for batteries that could help the U.S. develop an
electric-vehicle industry. In North Carolina, the U.S. Energy
Secretary will appear at Polypore International Inc.'s (PPO)
Celgard LLC, a supplier of battery parts that has applied for
funding.
The U.S. vice president is slated to appear in Detroit at
NextEnergy, a nonprofit that aims to advance alternative and
renewable energy. The expectation is that the announcement will
center on advanced batteries and the work that would be done by
companies in partnership with General Motors Co., Ford Motor Co.
(F), Chrysler Group LLC and battery companies building plants in
the area, NextEnergy Chief Executive Keith Cooley told reporters on
Tuesday.
Separately, U.S. Energy Secretary Steven Chu is scheduled to
meet with workers in Charlotte on Wednesday to discuss long-term
investments to rebuild the U.S. economy and rebuild for the future.
The Energy Department declined to elaborate.
The U.S. is trying to spur the development of electric vehicles,
hoping to create jobs in a new industry while also reducing global
warming and lessening U.S. dependence on foreign oil. The U.S.
Energy Department has said it expects to announce soon the
recipients of $2 billion in awards to companies that produce
high-efficiency batteries and other parts needed for electric cars.
Some 122 companies have applied for the money.
Johnson Controls Inc. (JCI) is among the applicants. In May, the
company applied for U.S. government matching funds to build a
lithium-ion battery manufacturing plant in Holland, Mich. The
battery plant is being built in partnership with Ford. Johnson
Controls previously announced it had been awarded $148.5 million in
incentives from the state of Michigan.
Jacqueline Strayer, a spokeswoman for Johnson Controls, said the
company expects to have several people at the Wednesday event with
Biden. "We don't have anything to report at this time," she said. A
Celgard spokesman had no immediate comment.
-By Siobhan Hughes, Dow Jones Newswires; 202-862-6654;
Siobhan.Hughes@dowjones.com