The Trump Administration has terminated around $100 million in grant funding for the Ascend Elements battery plant in Christian County. This is one of Kentucky’s largest economic development projects.
During his Team Kentucky update last week, just before the announcement, Gov. Andy Beshear said the decision would hurt people who heavily supported Trump during the last presidential election.
“Ascend Elements is an enormous project in Hopkinsville. If I was in the room, I'd remind the president and the administration, that county voted overwhelmingly for the president,” he said.
The governor also said the proposed cuts could mean a $50 million loss for Mitsubishi Electric in Mason County. The company is repurposing a manufacturing plant in Maysville.
“They're changing the project that they make. They're re-shoring something that is not currently made in the United States, which the Trump Administration, or not made enough in the United States, which the Trump Administration says it wants. If it cuts the funding, it's going to kill that project.” the governor said.
The Courier Journal reports that there is no official word on whether cuts are coming to the Mitsubishi Electric project. Also at risk is $24 million for energy-related projects at the University of Kentucky Research Foundation.
The largest of those grants is nearly $7 million. It is for a Pigman College of Engineering and Institute for Decarbonization and Energy Advancement project. The grant award documents show that this would be used to demonstrate the effectiveness of a carbon capture device that puts the raw material into glass production.
