In our first post, we explained why energy is the foundation of shared prosperity. In our second, we showed how outdated grid infrastructure and market rules are holding back growth. In our third, we outlined how to scale clean firm power. Now, we’re looking at the final piece: why America’s breakthrough technologies are getting stuck between the lab and the market and how to fix it. 

America is in a race to lead on clean energy innovation. 

From fusion and geothermal to clean steel and cement, U.S. labs, startups, and universities are rewriting what’s possible.  

But there’s a quiet crisis underneath the headlines: the innovation pipeline is broken. 

Once a technology leaves the lab and moves toward commercialization, innovators hit a wall. There’s no consistent path to secure a first customer, lock in suppliers, validate performance at scale, or navigate complex regulations. The result? Too many technologies stall in the “missing middle” – the high-risk phase between early research and development (R&D) and full commercial deployment.

This isn’t just about R&D funding. Securing technical R&D support is only half the battle. The other half is commercialization support – the technical validation, market partnerships, supply chain planning, and regulatory navigation that turns prototypes into projects. More financing alone won’t bridge this gap. What’s missing is the scaffolding that makes federal dollars and private capital go further.

The Missing Middle: Where Momentum Dies

The “valley of death” isn’t just the jump from prototype to a $50M+ first-of-a-kind plant. The cliff starts earlier – at the first pilot, the first manufacturing run, the first customer. And most startups are navigating it alone. 

The support system for innovators is fragmented: 

• One grant to validate technical performance  
• A separate application to fund a pilot 
• A third to fund demonstration 

Each stage operates independently. Different federal programs. Different timelines. Different requirements. By the time a company navigates all three, they’ve burned months, drained capital, and lost momentum. While American startups zigzag, competitors abroad move straight through. 

That’s not a pipeline. It’s a maze.

The Federal Role: Make the System Work Smarter

The U.S. has nearly all the right pieces, from billions in clean energy R&D to new domestic manufacturing incentives, strong state models, and private capital. What’s missing is a coherent system that moves innovators from lab bench to launch without losing speed or support.  

The federal government is the only actor positioned to stitch together the full continuum of energy innovation. Not through new bureaucracy, but through connecting existing programs and making current investments work harder. 

And while Washington can create the framework, states bring it to life by linking markets, utilities, and local partners that turn prototypes into real-world deployments. 

Together, stronger federal continuity and state leadership can transform today’s patchwork into a true national pipeline that moves technology from bench to profitability. Fortunately, we don’t need to start from scratch. Smart states are already showing what works.

What Works: Smart States Are Already Tying It Together 

States across the country are building bridges between research, commercialization, and deployment. Some of the most effective models are: 

• Louisiana Innovation (LA.IO) and the state’s Growth Fund combine seed-stage capital with technical and commercialization support. Together, they give startups a pathway from early validation to first pilots. 
• Oklahoma’s Cowboy Innovations Accelerator and Tulsa’s Rose Rock Bridge offer non-dilutive capital, workspace, and hands-on engineering support to early-stage energy and industrial-tech startups.  
• Maryland’s Energy Innovation Institute (MEI²) gives startups phased grants before demonstration, plus an “innovation bridge” that sustains them between awards. That continuity helps young companies show up to federal demo programs ready with data, customers, and manufacturability plans in hand. 
• MassCEC’s InnovateMass program gives startups up to $350K plus technical support to validate their tech in the real world, not just in the lab. It’s not just capital – it’s expertise that meets companies where they are.

Taken together, these efforts demonstrate that vibrant state-based innovation ecosystems exist across the nation, and they offer a powerful blueprint for strengthening federal commercialization support. 

Federal Fixes to Build a Real Pipeline 

To fix the innovation pipeline, we don’t need more programs, we need to create continuity across existing ones. Here’s how: 

• Empower DOE’s Office of Technology Commercialization (OTC)
  Turn OTC into a true commercialization engine – working across applied offices, helping teams build market plans, secure early manufacturing, and translate data into something a bank (or DOE loan program) can trust. Think of it as the “startup coach” inside DOE that connects dots and accelerates timelines.
• Scale Up What’s Working: ARPA-E’s SCALEUP Program
  This is one of the few federal efforts that provides commercial support to promising technologies entering the missing middle. Scale it to serve more technologies. 
• Fully Launch the Foundation for Energy Security and Innovation (FESI)
  Congress created FESI to be a fast-moving, market-focused partner to DOE. Now it’s time to fund it, scale it, and let it support companies between early R&D and large federal awards. FESI could provide $0.5–5M commercialization awards to take startups from lab-validated to demo-ready – right where today’s drop-off happens.

Together, these reforms could create the pipeline we’ve never had: a bench-to-bankability system that supports startups through every phase of the journey.

Federal Fixes to Build a Real Pipeline 

Innovation is not a moment, it’s a journey. And that journey doesn’t end with a patent or a press release. It ends with electrons on the grid, projects on the ground, and new industries built here in America. The technologies are there. The innovators are ready. What’s missing is the system to help them scale. 

At CleanEcon, we’re building that system by aligning federal programs, mobilizing state leadership, and making the path from invention to impact seamless so the U.S. leads the energy and economic future.