The U.S. Department of Energy has obligated more than $2.17 billion to date under its management-and-operating contract with The Trustees of Princeton University for the Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory (PPPL), according to federal spending records, with the most recent contract modification posted July 20, 2026. Total cumulative obligations stand at $2,170,949,215.38 against a potential contract ceiling of $2,190,730,616.06, per USAspending.gov transaction data for contract DE-AC02-09CH11466.

The contract is a decades-long cost-plus-award-fee vehicle for operating PPPL, a DOE Office of Science national laboratory in Plainsboro, New Jersey focused on plasma and fusion energy research. For GovCon practitioners, the record illustrates how large university-run GOCO (government-owned, contractor-operated) lab contracts are funded incrementally through periodic "funding only" modifications rather than a single upfront obligation, and how administrative modifications implementing new FAR clauses are tracked alongside funding actions in the same contract instrument.

Recent transaction history shows modification 526 added $28,490,149.21 on May 26, 2026, and modification 528 added $16,415,061.60 on June 25, 2026 — both classified as funding-only actions with no change to contract terms. A subsequent modification, No. 530, dated July 20, 2026, was a no-cost change order that added FAR clause 52.222-90 to the contract, per the award's transaction description, consistent with the governmentwide rollout of that clause under a recent executive order.

The contract was originally awarded January 28, 2009 through full and open competition, with one offer received, and carries a period of performance running from January 31, 2009 through a potential end date of March 31, 2027. It is classified under NAICS code 611310 (Colleges, Universities, and Professional Schools) and product/service code M181 (Operation of Government R&D GOCO Facilities). No other award-specific news beyond these routine funding and administrative modifications was found in recent public reporting.

Source: USAspending