With more than $33 million in federal money and equal matching funds of its own, HVAC giant Johnson Controls plans to expand heat-pump manufacturing at three U.S. plants, pushing its output to more than 200,000 units a year and creating close to 1,000 jobs.

Meanwhile, Gradient, a startup that makes window-mounted heat pumps, is in line for $17.5 million to establish a plant in Michigan that will employ about 300 and have a capacity of 100,000 units a year.

Both projects are part of the federal government's plan to boost the heat-pump market in order to cut carbon emissions, create manufacturing jobs, increase energy security, and support marginalized communities. In all, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has budgeted about $169 million to help nine companies increase the manufacture of heat pumps and related components at 15 sites across the country.

Although the final contracts have not been signed, leaders at both Johnson Controls and Gradient say they're confident they will be, and they're ready to get to work.

"We're thrilled with the government's leadership in investing in our infrastructure, in creating jobs, and in securing our supply chains, and we're ready to roll up our sleeves," said Gradient CEO Vince Romanin.

"It's an exciting time," said Katie McGinty, a vice president and chief sustainability and external relations officer at Johnson Controls. "(An) opportunity to tackle a 'bad' (and) drive a 'good': efficiency. It's a proud moment, and we're thrilled to be part of it."

The program hinges on the DOE's use of the Defense Production Act (DPA) to increase the domestic production of five clean-energy technologies, including electric heat pumps. President Joe Biden authorized the DPA after invoking emergency authority, because of climate change, to do so.

A DOE press release said the selected projects are designed to help build a clean-energy economy, create good-paying manufacturing jobs, improve air quality, help families and businesses save money on energy bills, and increase national security by reducing the reliance on foreign countries for energy resources.

“The president is using his wartime emergency powers under the Defense Production Act to turbocharge U.S. manufacturing of clean technologies and strengthen our energy security,” said Ali Zaidi, Biden’s climate advisor.

Together, the projects are expected to create more than 1,700 jobs and advance the Biden administration's Justice40 Initiative, which has a goal of seeing 40% of the benefits of certain climate, clean energy, and other federal investments go to communities that have been marginalized by underinvestment and overburdened by pollution, the DOE said.

Johnson Controls stands to get the second-largest piece of the $169 million pie; only Mitsubishi Electric U.S., at $50 million, would get more. McGinty said the money and the company's matching funds would be used to ramp up capacity to build residential heat pumps in Wichita, Kansas; industrial and institutional heat pumps in San Antonio, Texas; and industrial heat pumps in Waynesboro, Pennsylvania.

"These dollars and cents are directly targeted to manufacturing expansion," she said. It's expected to take about three years to complete the production increase.

McGinty said being selected for the project gives Johnson Controls the chance to show off the increasing capabilities of its heat pumps. "One of the things that was important to us was to demonstrate the breadth and the reach of heat-pump technology," she said.

At Gradient, the company said the site for its Michigan factory will be announced soon. Romanin said Gradient chose the state because of its history of advanced manufacturing, its skilled work force, and its goals for mitigating climate change.

"Funds will be used to establish a high-volume, vertically integrated manufacturing facility to produce Gradient all-weather heat pumps," he said. "This means hiring, new equipment, and other investments to develop the factory itself."

The company expects the factory to be fully operational in 2026.

Gradient, which recently won a contract to manufacture heat pumps for public housing in New York City, has a stated goal of helping underserved communities. The company titled its DOE grant project, "Heat Pumps to Those That Need Them Most."

"We are excited at the prospect of working with the DOE, but beyond that we are thrilled to see this commitment to heat pumps and electrification," Romanin said.

Gradient's window heat pumps use R-32 refrigerant, which has a GWP of under 700. Johnson Controls, McGinty said, will be making heat pumps, through the program, that use refrigerant appropriate to the specific technology.

"We need the spectrum of low- and ultra-low GWP refrigerants in order to unleash the promise of these technologies," she said.

Here are summaries of the other seven DOE grant projects:

• Armstrong International Inc.: About $5.08 million to build industrial heat pumps in Three Rivers, Michigan.
• Bard Manufacturing Co.: Nearly $9.21 million to increase the output of heat pumps at its plant in Madison, Georgia.
• Copeland: Nearly $11.49 million to build components for heat-pump compressors in Ava, Missouri; Lebanon, Missouri; and Cudahy, Wisconsin, and to build hydronic heat-pump systems in Sidney, Ohio.
• Honeywell International Inc.: Almost $14.8 million to produce a low-GWP component for R-454B refrigerant in Geismar, Louisiana.
• Hydro Temp Corp.: Nearly $10.9 million to increase the capacity for building geothermal heat pumps in Pocahontas, Arkansas; and Albany, New York.
• Ice Air: About $17.6 million to build cold-climate heat pumps and geothermal heat pumps in Spartanburg, South Carolina.
• Mitsubishi Electric U.S. Inc.: $50 million toward establishing a factory in Kentucky to build variable-capacity compressors for all-climate heat pumps.