The Department of Energy (DOE) is one of the largest public financiers of research and development in the world. In fiscal year 2024, Congress allocated $15 billion to DOE’s applied energy offices and the Office of Science, which conduct research and technological development on a wide variety of energy sources. While DOE’s work is important to support and accelerate innovation, bureaucracy and inefficient management hamper its impact. A new Fast Track program could address these issues. 

Cultivated by Breakthrough Energy, the Fast Track program would serve to bridge gaps in existing federal innovation spending and accelerate startup progress. The program would do this by funding projects that have strong market potential and are oriented to market needs, as determined by private sector partners and leaders. While other DOE offices specialize in specific energy technologies, Fast Track would be technology-neutral and focus on emissions reduction potential. 

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Fast Track aims to fix the inefficiencies and bureaucracy at DOE. As a recent report from the Bipartisan Policy Center found, it can take nearly a decade and cost hundreds of millions of dollars for a DOE-sponsored startup to reach commercialization. 

While this is partially due to market factors and seed funding, the current operating procedures of DOE can also play a role. As Breakthrough Energy notes, “contracting can take months, or DOE may require startups to pay for prohibitively expensive equipment or efforts up front before receiving a reimbursement.” 

Fast Track would be broken up into four levels of programming: Explorer (turning research into technology), Early Development (creating prototypes and market strategies), Scaling (validating technology and scaling production), and Pilot-Scale Demonstration (demonstrating the first pilot of the technology). In total, these four programs would cost nearly $208 million and include a 50% match from the private sector. 

Under Fast Track, applicants to the program would have to clear a high bar to entry and be vetted and selected within 60-90 days. After acceptance, they would receive grant funding up front to ensure access to funding does not limit progress. 

Fast Track would also create a cohesive funding approach by working alongside other programs such as ARPA-E and the Office of Clean Energy Demonstrations to fill in funding gaps and act as a connective conveyor between federal programs. It could also work with the Foundation for Energy Security and Innovation (FESI) to secure additional private financing for these projects and help participants scale faster. 

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DOE could use its existing authority to build and test out a Fast Track program, but would eventually need Congressional approval to realize Fast Track’s full potential, according to the report.  

In addition to Fast Track, there are other steps that policymakers can take to speed up the pace and scale of innovation at the Department of Energy. A report from ClearPath includes several reforms such as reorganizing the management structure of the agency and streamlining funding applications to encourage new participants. DOE should also grant categorical exclusions to all demonstration projects and Congress should continue to provide consistent support for early-stage R&D programs. 

Fast Track provides a flexible, technology-neutral approach to scale the pace of commercialization. Policies that fix bureaucratic inefficiencies and better leverage public-private partnerships and market needs, like Fast Track, will accelerate innovation in the United States.

The views and opinions expressed are those of the author’s and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of C3.