A hyped $1 billion hemp battery initiative in Wisconsin has apparently been deserted, leaving two cities—and a whole lot of displaced battery staff—empty-handed after greater than two years of planning, promotion, and public help.
Wisconsin Battery Co., which had promised to exchange jobs misplaced from Energizer plant closures in Portage and Fennimore, has gone “fully off the radar,” in response to Grant County Financial Growth Corp. Government Director Ron Brisbois. “I’ve heard nothing from them in 2025,” Brisbois informed the Dubuque Telegraph Herald.
The corporate, led by CEO Jeff Greene, first gained consideration in 2023 with bold claims it could construct hemp carbon batteries that might outperform lithium-based alternate options, scale back environmental affect, and set up Portage as a producing hub for next-generation vitality storage. The plan was to make use of hemp bast fiber to create rechargeable and consumer-grade batteries, starting with listening to aids and transferring ultimately into electrical car (EV) and industrial markets.
Failed grant
However the plans suffered a vital setback in January when the U.S. Division of Power denied Greene’s request for a $50 million battery manufacturing grant. Whereas the DOE was slated to provide out $3 billion for battery manufacturing and recycling operations in 2025, the Trump administration froze and lower billions in DOE grants —together with battery-related applications—successfully derailing many clear vitality initiatives.
Nonetheless, Greene continued to actively promote the mission, showing earlier than the Portage Metropolis Council later in January to reiterate his plans – this time primarily based on non-public financing. He additionally indicated he was pursuing state funding and tax credit.
In keeping with SWNews4U, Greene had requested the Southwestern Wisconsin Regional Planning Fee to help in getting ready a federal grant software. However Lydia McLimans, who oversees grant writing for the Fee, informed the outlet: “Jeff Greene did ask me to write down a grant on their behalf, which we declined to do primarily based on our analysis of the grant that led us to consider his proposal didn’t meet the grant necessities.”
Along with industrial manufacturing ambitions, Greene had additionally floated a plan to open a packaging and small-assembly plant in Fennimore, eyeing a vacant Household Greenback constructing as a place to begin. He later recommended he may purchase or lease the neighboring World of Selection constructing as properly. Neither of these plans got here to fruition. The Household Greenback constructing stays empty and out there for buy or lease, whereas the World of Selection property has been acquired and is to open as a ironmongery store later this 12 months.
$1 billion dream
On the peak of the hype in early 2024, Greene mentioned the corporate aimed to lift $1 billion over three to 5 years. Wisconsin Battery secured an choice to purchase 17 acres of city-owned industrial park land in Portage for $1, and Portage metropolis officers thought-about authorizing $20 million in federal industrial income bonds to help amenities in each cities.
Wisconsin Battery pledged to create 60–70 preliminary jobs, with a imaginative and prescient of scaling to 600 workers over six years. Greene claimed the corporate had been in touch with union representatives for Energizer’s former workforce and would repurpose the shuttered Energizer websites for hemp battery manufacturing.
Native leaders had been cautious however hopeful concerning the battery plant mission. “They’re a startup firm, so we’re being very cautious about how we proceed,” Portage Mayor Mitchel Craig informed the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel as particulars have been introduced in early 2024, whereas noting that town had not invested cash instantly.
Due diligence?
That warning might have been warranted. Wisconsin Battery Co. is owned by Sustainable Communities Corp. (SCC), a 501(c)(4) entity led by Michael Sauvante, a self-described Silicon Valley entrepreneur. Sauvante has been linked to a number of failed ventures relationship again a long time.
In keeping with a 2012 NBC Bay Space investigation, a U.S. chapter decide discovered that Sauvante had repeatedly created shell companies to bilk traders. A federal trustee described a sample of beginning corporations, promoting inventory, transferring unproven applied sciences, and collapsing the operations earlier than repeating the cycle.
Greene, who served SCC as a director and lobbyist along with his Wisconsin Battery position, additionally based Pure Life Franchise Corp., a sequence of CBD retail shops. In mid-2025, Greene quietly eliminated “CEO, Wisconsin Battery” from his LinkedIn profile.
