Inspector General investigating DOE’s reported tech transfer to China following Ernst query

Following a request from U.S. Sen. Joni Ernst (R-IA), the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) Office of Inspector General says it is conducting an investigation into whether the department sent $15 million of taxpayer-funded, advanced battery technology to China.

“Taxpayers spent millions of dollars to develop cutting-edge technology that the DOE then gave to Communist China,” Sen. Ernst said on Oct. 12. “This was a major breach of national security by the federal government.” 

Sen. Ernst and U.S. Sen. John Barrasso (R-WY) sent a Sept. 14 letter to DOE Inspector General Teri Donaldson expressing concerns about a news story NPR ran on Aug. 3 that reported the DOE paid for the battery technology research and subsequent battery development, but then sent it to China, while also reportedly refusing to issue battery licenses to American companies.

NPR said in its news story that the vanadium redox flow battery technology was first given to a Chinese company by DOE in 2017 as part of a sublicense, and again in 2021 as part of a license transfer. The NPR and Northwest News Network investigation also found that DOE allowed the technology and jobs to move overseas, violating its own licensing rules, while failing to intervene on behalf of U.S. workers.

In response to the Sept. 14 letter from Sens. Ernst and Barrasso expressing concerns about the DOE’s “apparent transfer of vanadium redox battery technology to China,” Donaldson wrote in an Oct. 5 letter sent to the senators: “In accordance with our procedures, we are conducting a thorough review of this matter to determine what steps may be appropriate for the Office of Inspector General.” 

Sen. Ernst said on Wednesday that she looks forward to answers on “how and why this unlawful transfer occurred.”

“We have to ensure this never happens again,” she said.