Energy Department Touts Tribal Funding With a Map Missing Vermont

Energy Department Touts Tribal Funding With a Map Missing Vermont

A funding announcement overshadowed by a missing state

The U.S. Department of Energy marked a major Tribal energy funding announcement with a map of the United States that had no Vermont on it. According to local Vermont outlet myChamplainValley, the graphic was posted on the department's official X account over the weekend. New Hampshire and Vermont were merged into a single state, Hawaii was omitted entirely, and the Minnesota-Canada border was drawn with the wrong shape.

63 Tribal-led projects worth over $125 million

The post's caption read: "Yesterday, the Energy Department announced major investments towards Tribal communities energy infrastructure that will lower energy costs for Americans!" The underlying announcement, confirmed by the department's own release and Tribal Business News, selected 63 Tribal-led projects for award negotiations totaling more than $125 million across 16 states, including Alaska, covering 61 Tribal entities. The agency called it the largest single investment in the history of the Office of Indian Energy. The funding round began as a $50 million opportunity and was expanded after Tribal applications sought roughly 10 times that amount.

"Vermont?" — backlash and an AI suspicion

As views climbed, replies filled with corrections and mockery. One community note on X simply asked: "Vermont?" Other users wrote "So, you failed geography?" and "Sir, put down AI and download a real map," while one Vermont resident wrote that finding his state missing was "very offensive." A fuller Community Note later stated: "This map has a number of mistakes which suggest it is AI-generated. Hawaii and Vermont are missing. Minnesota is also missing its Northwest Angle."

Welch turns the error into an education jab

Vermont junior senator Peter Welch responded: "This is why we can't get rid of the Education Department." The line was widely quoted as a jab tying the cartographic blunder to the administration's stance toward federal education. The Energy Department had not, as of the latest reports, publicly explained how the graphic was produced or issued a correction.

A small graphic raises a bigger checks question

The substance — electrification, transmission, geothermal development and energy planning for Tribal communities — was quickly eclipsed by the missing states. The episode points to a familiar risk: an AI-drafted graphic published without a human geography check. What comes next is whether Energy reposts a corrected map with an explanation, and whether the 63 project negotiations move forward on schedule despite the distraction.