Appalachia to Lead U.S. Energy Tech Future with $321M NSF Engine
NSF will fund about $321 million to the RETI Engine led by West Virginia University with the University of Pittsburgh and Carnegie Mellon University and 60 partners to build a regional energy-innovation hub in Appalachia. The project includes up to $160 million from NSF and $161 million from industry and partners over a decade, aiming to spur energy resilience, grid management, AI-enabled tech, storage, and advanced manufacturing, with projected impacts of ~21,000 jobs, 150 startups, and over $1 billion in regional growth.