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ARPA‑E nominee says program relies on program managers and internal review to avoid picking winners

3297277 · May 14, 2025

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Summary

At a Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee hearing, ARPA‑E nominee Joseph Prochaska described the agency's project-selection process and pledged to continue using program managers, internal debate and external review to select projects rather than the agency picking winners and losers.

A senator asked Joseph Prochaska, nominee for a leadership role at the Advanced Research Projects Agency‑Energy (ARPA‑E), how he would ensure the agency invests in a “complete portfolio of next generation energy technologies” without picking winners and losers.

Prochaska said that is “a very big part of the way ARPA‑E operates.” He described ARPA‑E’s approach as recruiting “the best program managers” who bring ideas that are vetted through “a crucible of internal debates and external reviews” to select the best programs and projects.

“The way ARPA‑E operates is we bring in the best program managers that we can find, and those program managers bring the best ideas that they can. And they're forced through a crucible of internal debates and external reviews to come out with some of the best possible programs and projects we possibly can,” Prochaska said. He added that the analysis includes how a project “makes sense in the overall energy portfolio and move[s] the ball forward on behalf of The United States and the world.”

Asked whether ARPA‑E will avoid “picking winners and losers,” Prochaska responded, “we're going to take the best projects, and I promise that that that's going to be the process with which the if I am confirmed, ARPA‑E continues to move forward with the best projects, and and not picking winners and losers necessarily.” He emphasized considering affordability, security and reliability as part of portfolio decisions.

Prochaska’s remarks were framed as commitments about process rather than specific funding decisions. The exchange did not include a vote or an announcement of new ARPA‑E programs.