DOE says a nearly half-billion dollar investment will be directed to more than a dozen U.S. "coal communities" to advance the domestic manufacturing of clean energy products.

The University of Utah and Sandia’s Nevada site beat out a volcanic area in Bend, Oregon, the Idaho National Laboratory near Idaho Falls, and a Sandia site at the U.S. Navy’s China Lake Naval Air Weapons Station north of Ridgecrest, California.

The Department of Energy announced on Tuesday that it will spend $428 million to expand battery manufacturing and recycling facilities in places that have suffered power plant and coal mine closures.

The Biden administration is putting $428 million into bolstering manufacturing projects in 15 communities whose economies have historically relied on coal plants or mining. The funds will go to 14 projects,