While rolling out significant funding announcements for energy infrastructure this week, the US Department of Energy (DOE) appeared to make one notable oversight—accidentally excluding an entire state.
The DOE’s official X account posted a picture that looked like it displayed the full United States, along with the caption: “Yesterday, the Energy Department announced major investments toward Tribal communities energy infrastructure that will lower energy costs for Americans!”
Vermont missing from DOE map as agency announces $125mn in tribal energy funding
A community note appeared on X where viewers simply asked: “Vermont?”
The comments section of the post got quickly filled with users wondering why the state was missing from the map, and several people speculated that artificial intelligence might have been responsible for creating it.
“What happened to Vermont? Let me guess yall had ai create this, map didn’t you?” one user wrote.
“I live in vermont man I find this very offensive,” another user commented, while the third person said, “Sir, put down the AI and download a real map.”
“So you failed geography,” a fourth user stated.
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DOE’s $125 million funding plan
On October 22, the Department of Energy announced the selection of 63 Tribal-led energy initiatives for negotiation discussions regarding federal funding exceeding $125 million.
These initiatives encompass electrification of Tribal residences currently without electrical service, conversion of existing structures to natural gas heating systems, and modernization of infrastructure throughout Tribal communities.
The Department of Energy said that these selections align with President Donald Trump’s “Unleashing American Energy” executive order. The department further noted that Tribal households experience energy expenditures approximately 28 percent higher than the national average and that approximately 17,000 Tribal residences currently lack access to electricity.
The graphic provided a visual overview of the quantity of planned projects across several states, with Alaska and Oklahoma demonstrating the highest concentrations.