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U.S. Energy Secretary Expected to Announce EV Grant in Michigan

Dan Brouillette, deputy secretary of energy nominee for U.S. President Donald Trump, speaks during a Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee nomination hearing in Washington, D.C., U.S., on Thursday, May 25, 2017. Federal lawmakers and industry groups including the Independent Petroleum Association of America and American Petroleum Institute have been urging President Donald Trump to fill the three vacancies at the ederal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) quickly since the agency lost the quorum it needs to make major decisions in February.

(Bloomberg) —

Energy Secretary Dan Brouillette is traveling to Michigan Thursday to tour a General Motors Co. facility and is expected to announce an electric-car battery grant while in the the battle-ground state, according to two people familiar with the plans.

The grant will aid the industry at large and be announced in conjunction with Brouillette’s visit to GM’s Estes Battery Lab and Design Center, according to the people, who asked not to be identified revealing information in advance of the event.

GM has been developing battery packs at the Estes plant for electric vehicles it will begin selling later this year. The company plans to sell 20 plug-in models globally by 2023.

The Energy Department, in a statement announcing the trip, said Brouillette plans to highlight the agency’s “commitment to advancing American manufacturing and battery storage technology.”

The grant, which the people familiar said will total over $100 million, follows the release of an Energy Department plan to accelerate the development, commercialization, and utilization of energy storage technologies.

Brouillett’s trip comes as other administration officials have spread out to battleground states across the country with cabinet officials making stops in Florida, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and Arizona.

WHOU.S. Secretary of Energy Dan Brouillette
WHATGeneral Motor’s Estes Battery Lab and Design Center
WHEREWarren, MI
WHENThursday, July 16
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