The U.S. Department of Energy said it will not give A123 Systems Inc. the balance of a $249 million grant, a department official said Monday, a day after the bankrupt battery maker was bought by a Chinese company, Reuters reported yesterday. The official indicated that the end of the grant payouts was made clear to all parties who participated in last week's auction for the company. A123 will be sold to Wanxiang Group, pending court and regulatory approval, after the Chinese company outbid Johnson Controls Inc. of Milwaukee. Alex Molinari, president of Johnson Controls Power Solutions, said he expects the sale to be approved by the Delaware Bankruptcy Court today. Lawmakers renewed criticisms that the White House's clean energy grant to the maker of lithium ion batteries for electric cars had wasted taxpayer money. The company had received about $133 million of its $249 million grant when it filed for bankruptcy protection in October. Wanxiang, which bid $256.6 million for A123, reportedly did not request the grant money and did not anticipate receiving it. A123 received its grant as a part of the Obama administration's $2 billion stimulus initiative to promote domestic battery manufacturing.
