Funding for Kraft Heinz, Diageo Projects Eliminated in Dept. of Energy $3.7 Billion Cuts
The U.S. Department of Energy has terminated taxpayer-funded awards for 24 projects across the nation, totaling more than $3.7 billion, and the sustainability efforts of at least two large food and beverage companies are taking a direct financial hit.
U.S. Secretary of Energy Chris Wright said in the announcement of the cuts that “a thorough and individualized financial review of each award” found each project “failed to advance the energy needs of the American people, were not economically viable and would not generate a positive return on investment of taxpayer dollars.”
The funding was awarded by the Office of Clean Energy Demonstrations (OCED), with 16 of the projects approved between Election Day 2024 and Jan. 20, 2025, President Donald Trump’s first day in office in his second term. Others, including the two food and beverage projects mentioned below, were awarded more than a year ago.
“The Trump administration is doing our due diligence to ensure we are utilizing taxpayer dollars to strengthen our national security, bolster affordable, reliable energy sources and advance projects that generate the highest possible return on investment,” Wright said.
Meanwhile, details on the projects for which federal funding has been cut have been coming out in the mainstream media. The Chicago Sun-Times reported that Kraft Heinz and Diageo were hit particularly hard by the cancellations, with Kraft Heinz losing out on a $170 million grant awarded in March 2024 for projects at 10 of its U.S. plants. Diageo lost a $75 million grant for work at its facilities in Plainfield, Ill., and Shelbyville, Ky., the report noted.
According to the report, the projects impacted at Kraft Heinz included installation of heat pumps, electric heaters and boilers, anaerobic digesters, biogas boilers, and solar and thermal energy projects at the plants. The technologies were expected to help the company lower its use of natural gas at those facilities by 97% by 2030 — and energy use by 23%.
The company noted that the plants affected by the loss of the $170 million awards were in Champaign, Ill., Columbia, Mo., Fremont, Ohio, Holland, Mich., Kendallville, Ind., Lowville, N.Y., Mason City and Muscatine, Iowa, New Ulm, Minn., and Winchester, Va.
Kraft Heinz told the Sun-Times that it was aware of the “unilateral” decision, but that “it does not change our intention to continue investing in our 30 U.S. manufacturing facilities. Over the next approximately five years, we plan to invest $3 billion to modernize our U.S. supply chain infrastructure. We will continue to drive energy efficiency projects forward as we make these investments,” Kraft Heinz said.
Diageo reportedly was aiming to do work to further goals to make the Plainfield and Shelbyville facilities carbon neutral by 2028 and 2026, respectively — working to eliminate its reliance on natural gas for boilers, the report said. The project would have installed heat battery technology to capture and store renewable energy, delivering continuous industrial heat and power that address intermittency concerns, according to details shared at the time of the grant being awarded in 2024.
