Funding delay affects project

SyntexNRG, a Northwest Arkansas project development company, recently emphasized the concerns outlined in a recent report published in Latitude Media about prolonged delays at the U.S. Department of Energy, where hundreds of federally approved energy project grants remain stalled more than a year after the grant awards were announced.

The report shows that although DOE announced the cancellation of more than 350 awards and signaled another 300 for possible termination, the agency has formally deobligated funds for only a small portion of the projects. Hundreds of additional awards that were never formally canceled have stopped receiving payments or have been unable to move forward to funding.

One of the affected projects is in Northwest Arkansas. Highlighting the possibility of easing existing issues at Northwest Arkansas’ only landfill, the City of Berryville was awarded a $745,932 DOE grant to study advanced waste-to-energy and molecular recycling solutions through “Project SMRF,” a feasibility initiative developed with SyntexNRG and regional partners. The project aims to evaluate innovative approaches to municipal solid waste management, including improved waste separation, conversion of organic and municipal waste streams into renewable fuels and advanced materials and the potential for a community-scale “virtual landfill” system to reduce pressure on the Northwest Arkansas landfill. Although the project was competitively selected and officially announced, the award has not been funded.

U.S. Rep. Steve Womack (R-AR), a senior member of the House Appropriations Committee and chairman of the Financial Services and General Government (FSGG) Subcommittee, announced the award in January 2025. He formerly served as chairman of the House Budget Committee, and his district includes the Berryville project. The City of Berryville has received updates from Womack’s office that the congressman is aware of the situation, that his chief of staff has been personally engaged on the matter and that the district office is continuing to work on the inquiry through its Washington liaisons.

“This is encouraging,” said Chris Claybaker, director of development for SyntexNRG. “As an appropriator, we thought Congressman Womack’s office might finally get some movement on the Berryville project. We still have not heard anything from DOE.”

Claybaker said SyntexNRG had hoped Womack would seek written clarification from the Department of Energy regarding the anticipated completion date of the review and the timeline for issuing determinations to affected awardees.

“We are curious how DOE is ensuring continued implementation consistent with the applicable FY24 appropriations language that was to fund this award,” Claybaker said. “We would hope that studying landfill diversion and converting municipal solid waste into fuel would align with the new policies and energy priorities. There is no doubt that Congressman Womack understands concerns about landfill problems, particularly in Northwest Arkansas.”

The Latitude Media report notes that similar delays have affected projects across the country. Congress acknowledged the widespread disruptions in the 2026 appropriations bill, which now requires DOE to notify lawmakers before terminating any award of more than $1 million. Several awardees have turned to the courts, and a federal judge in Washington, D.C., recently ordered DOE to reinstate nearly $28 million in canceled grants. Additional lawsuits were filed last week by awardees in Colorado, Connecticut and New York.

The report warns that the lack of communication and prolonged uncertainty is undermining confidence in federal energy programs and jeopardizing long-term planning for states, companies, and local communities.

“SyntexNRG is encouraged to have Congressman Womack’s support and believes that it could lead to timely federal guidance that is essential to maintaining project momentum in Arkansas in support of local economic development,” the company said in a news release.