The Department of Energy Office of Fossil Energy awarded a purchase order to New England Research, Inc. on September 28, 2026, for one IRA AutoLab 2000 servo-hydraulic large-bore triaxial system at $1.05 million, with completion targeted for July 1, 2027. The system will be delivered to West River Junction, Vermont, and supports petrophysical and rock mechanics experimentation on natural rocks and man-made materials at reservoir conditions including overburden pressure, pore pressure, and temperature. The procurement was conducted as a sole-source acquisition under FAR Part 12 (commercial products) after NETL determined that New England Research was the only known source capable of meeting the equipment's unique multi-physics coupling and proprietary integration requirements.