A hyped $1 billion hemp battery initiative in Wisconsin has apparently been deserted, leaving two cities—and tons of of displaced battery staff—empty-handed after greater than two years of planning, promotion, and public help.
Wisconsin Battery Co., which had promised to interchange jobs misplaced from Energiser plant closures in Portage and Fennimore, has gone “utterly off the radar,” in response to Grant County Financial Improvement Corp. Govt Director Ron Brisbois. “I’ve heard nothing from them in 2025,” Brisbois advised the Dubuque Telegraph Herald.
The corporate, led by CEO Jeff Greene, first gained consideration in 2023 with bold claims it might construct hemp carbon batteries that will outperform lithium-based alternate options, cut back environmental impression, and set up Portage as a producing hub for next-generation power 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 essential setback in January when the U.S. Division of Vitality denied Greene’s request for a $50 million battery manufacturing grant. Whereas the DOE was slated to present 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 power tasks.
Nonetheless, Greene continued to actively promote the challenge, 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 making ready a federal grant utility. However Lydia McLimans, who oversees grant writing for the Fee, advised the outlet: “Jeff Greene did ask me to jot 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 urged 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 obtainable for buy or lease, whereas the World of Selection property has been acquired and is to open as a ironmongery shop later this yr.
$1 billion dream
On the peak of the hype in early 2024, Greene stated the corporate aimed to boost $1 billion over three to 5 years. Wisconsin Battery secured an possibility to purchase 17 acres of city-owned industrial park land in Portage for $1, and Portage metropolis officers thought of authorising $20 million in federal industrial income bonds to help services in each cities.
Wisconsin Battery pledged to create 60–70 preliminary jobs, with a imaginative and prescient of scaling to 600 staff over six years. Greene claimed the corporate had been involved with union representatives for Energiser’s former workforce and would repurpose the shuttered Energiser websites for hemp battery manufacturing.
Native leaders had been cautious however hopeful relating to the battery plant challenge. “They’re a startup firm, so we’re being very cautious about how we proceed,” Portage Mayor Mitchel Craig advised the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel as particulars had been introduced in early 2024, whereas noting that town had not invested cash immediately.
Due diligence?
That warning could 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.
In an e-mail to HempToday, Sauvante wrote, partly: “With respect to WinBat (Wisconsin Battery), sure I launched it, however then turned the operations over to Jeff and by no means had something to do with traders, politicians or others associated to the corporate.”
Greene, who served SCC as a director and lobbyist along with his Wisconsin Battery function, 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.
