Gov. Beshear to President Trump: Oppose Federal Funding Cuts to Vital Energy Projects in Kentucky To Protect Jobs and Economy
$537 million in DOE funding is being threatened, Beshear says
FRANKFORT, Ky. (Oct. 16, 2025) – Today, Gov. Andy Beshear sent a letter to President Donald Trump urging him to oppose $24 billion in federal funding cuts from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), $537 million of which were awarded for Kentucky projects expected to create over 700 jobs.
“The projects at risk of losing this funding are helping reshore American manufacturing and jobs from China, and these cuts jeopardize that progress for our commonwealth and our country,” said Gov. Beshear. “I urge you to oppose these harmful cuts and protect hundreds of jobs and economic development, which will provide much-needed opportunity for Kentucky families and our rural communities.”
The $537 million in DOE funding that is being threatened was already awarded to five projects in Kentucky for the communities of Maysville, Hopkinsville, Shelbyville, Louisville and Lexington. In his letter, the Governor broke down the individual projects and what is at risk.
In Maysville, $50 million was awarded to Mitsubishi Electric for a heat pump compressor manufacturing plant that is projected to employ 300 Kentuckians. The project would repurpose an existing automotive parts manufacturing facility to produce heat pump compressors, reshoring American manufacturing and jobs as China currently builds nearly 95% of these compressors. At capacity, the facility would produce over 1 million compressors each year.
More than $316 million in awarded funding to Ascend Elements Inc. in Hopkinsville is also at risk of DOE cuts, jeopardizing a project set to create 400 Kentucky jobs. The electric vehicle battery recycling and engineered materials manufacturing facility would help reduce the nation’s reliance on battery-related imports from other countries, as the U.S. currently does not produce enough critical minerals or materials to produce battery power technologies domestically.
Other examples of proposed DOE cuts to Kentucky projects include a $75 million award for Diageo’s production operations in Shelbyville; a $72 million award for a research and development project at PPL’s natural gas combined-cycle generation facility in Louisville; and almost $24 million awarded to the University of Kentucky for energy-related research.
“These cuts will only set back economic development and job opportunities in Kentucky and hurt our country’s international competitiveness and progress on reshoring domestic manufacturing,” said the Governor.
