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Trump cancels $87 million grant for planned low-carbon cement plant in Holyoke

By Jim Kinney | jkinney@repub.com

President Donald Trump’s administration recently canceled an $87 million grant issued to Sublime Systems — whose low-carbon cement manufacturing plant is scheduled to open in Holyoke in 2027. But the company said it will continue.

 

Sublime has technology developed at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology to make cement using electricity, a process designed to cut down the amount of carbon released into the air compared to traditional cement manufacurting methods, which are emission-heavy.

 

At the end of May, the U.S. Department of Energy announced it canceled the funding for 24 projects, and the Sublime plant was one of them. The grants totaled $3.7 billion.

 

Sublime said Monday it is still moving forward with its plans to open a plant in Holyoke, seeking funding from other sources despite the loss of federal investment. It said the cancellation of the $87 million was frustrating and disappointing given the company’s progress.

 

“It is without a doubt that scaling our clean, efficient cement manufacturing technology directly enables stated administration priorities: onshoring manufacturing, adding good American jobs, unleashing more energy for Americans, supporting critical minerals production, and strengthening domestic supply chains for a material that America currently imports tens of millions of tons from foreign countries per year,” Sublime said in an emailed statement.

 

Sublime plans to employ 70 to 90 people with production expected to begin in 2027 or 2028. It already secured and cleared a 16-acre site in Holyoke’s industrial Flats area.

 

Sublime chose the area, in part, because of Holyoke’s hydropower, which is a successor to the 19th century turbines that powered the paper mills and made Holyoke famous as the “Paper City.”

 

“We are trying to promote our assets,” said Holyoke Mayor Joshua A. Garcia when reached Monday for comment, “the things that drew industry here in the first place.”

 

Sublime encouraged Holyoke to stick with the project since learning of the Trump administration’s decision.

 

Garcia said while it is reassuring that Sublime wants to continue with the project, the canceled grant adds some uncertainty to the process.

 

“All our meetings with the Sublime team indicate this project is moving forward,” said Aaron Vega, head of planning and economic development for Holyoke. “We do not yet have site plans submitted for review, but the city has had pre-application meetings with their design team and are working through the issues and opportunities at their location.”

 

U.S. Rep. Richard E. Neal, D-Springfield, said the Trump administation’s move to cancel the grant was irresponsible and shortsighted.

 

“Scrapping funding for projects for innovators like Sublime Systems in Holyoke undercuts years of progress in decarbonizing heavy industry,” Neal said in a statement Monday, “and it jeopardizes good-paying jobs and economic development in communities that need it most.”

 

The funding came through the Inflation Reduction Act, which was written in the House Ways and Means Committee that Neal chaired at the time.

 

“I can say unequivocally that this was not the intention of the bill; it was designed to accelerate the clean energy transition through innovation, not stall it,” Neal said. “This isn’t just about climate — it’s about global competitiveness and leadership.

 

The U.S. Department of Energy said the Sublime System grant and the other industrial demonstration grants were approved in the waning days of the Biden presidency.

 

“While the previous administration failed to conduct a thorough financial review before signing away billions of taxpayer dollars, 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,” said Christopher Wright, secretary of energy, in a statement.

 

For Garcia, the Holyoke mayor said it demonstrates that the federal government is no longer a reliable partner.

 

“There was a lot of work that took place to get us to where we are today,” Garcia said. “For the federal government to play this ‘just kidding’ role, it’s not a good partnership.”

 

Sublime already had a deal to sell 623,000 tons of cement products to Microsoft over six to nine years. The company also recently announced a program to encourage general contractors to use Sublime’s cement.

 

Sublime’s cement was used in part of the construction of One Boston Wharf, which at 707,000 square feet is the Boston’s largest net-zero-carbon, mixed-use building. Amazon leases part of it.

 

Previously, Neal said he expected the climate provisions of the Inflation Reduction Act to survive because many of the projects are in Republican-leaning southern states where GOP members of Congress would fight for them.

 

In January, Joe Hicken, Sublime’s vice president of business development and policy, said he would be surprised if the incoming administration canceled the “investments in clean American manufacturing.”

 

Sublime’s technology, and its decision to locate in Holyoke, garnered publicity for the city. Garcia said it generated phone calls to City Hall from other technology companies.

 

“People wanting to explore and understand our community more,” Garcia said. “People searching for a place to land their business.”

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