Latest news with #AmericanCleanPower
Yahoo
20-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Just how many jobs and GDP dollars do US clean energy factories create?
American manufacturing has already surged in the clean energy sector, bringing with it significant economic rewards. That's the main takeaway from a census of U.S. clean energy factories, published today by the American Clean Power Association trade group. The report identifies 200 operating across 38 states as of early 2025. The production of solar panels leads the count with at least 90 facilities. About 65 factories are making batteries, while a smaller number produce equipment for onshore and offshore wind. A broader population of over 800 facilities plays a supporting role in the clean energy supply chain, manufacturing materials and subcomponents that turn the solar panels and batteries into full-fledged power plants. Those facilities already contribute 122,000 jobs and create $33 billion of economic activity annually, which includes earnings, goods and services produced, and payments to supporting industries, ACP found. Notably, 73% of these factories operate in what the report describes as 'Republican states' (as determined by presidential vote). That economic impact could grow to $164 billion by 2030 if the currently planned and announced factories come to fruition. The report came out as ACP met for its annual conference in Phoenix, but the intended audience includes the Republican members of Congress who will soon vote on cuts to the slew of tax credits underpinning this factory buildout. The report asserts that the burgeoning cleantech factory sector could 'be the foundation for American energy dominance that is built by Americans for Americans.' 'We have seen a tremendous amount of momentum over just even the past couple of years in clean energy manufacturing growth,' MJ Shiao, ACP's vice president of supply chain and manufacturing, said on a press call Friday. 'With stable tax and stable trade policy, we can really continue to amplify, grow that momentum.' Clean energy leaders have spent the months since the November election hoping that the sheer economic dynamism their factories inject into Republican congressional districts could overcome President Donald Trump's desire to unravel Joe Biden's legacies. It didn't help that the Democrats passed the Inflation Reduction Act, with its many highly targeted tax credits for clean energy deployment and manufacturing, on a party-line vote. But enough Republican representatives publicly argued against a wholesale repeal of the credits to give cleantech insiders hope. Indeed, the House Ways and Means Committee declined to eradicate the credits entirely in its budget proposal from last week. But the proposed tweaks to many of the individual programs narrow their scope and could render them wholly unworkable nonetheless. 'If they are implemented as currently drafted, which we certainly hope they are not, we will see factories shutting down,' Shiao said. 'We will see these American manufacturers have to lay people off, and we will see them having to tell their local business partners that they no longer have the opportunity to work with them.' In that light, the ACP report reads as a tabulation of what the country could miss out on if policy changes underway in Washington bring the onshoring trend to a staggering halt. The manufacturing job count could grow to 579,000 by 2030 if the other announced factory projects get built and come online. Total job count doesn't confirm how desirable the work is, but these jobs happen to pay quite well, especially solar manufacturing salaries, which averaged $134,000 in 2024. A Canary Media visit to the enormous QCells solar factory in Dalton, Georgia, last year showed why this work pays more than traditional manufacturing. The brand-new factories leverage considerable automation and robotic assistance for the heavy lifting and repetitive, high-precision tasks. Workers patrolled the lines and intervened when the machinery needed help. That greater output of an in-demand, high-tech product supported considerably higher pay than the carpet factories down the road. 'This is not our parents' generation's manufacturing,' Shiao said. 'There is automation, there is robotics, there is AI in these facilities. And that's a good thing, because these are high-tech, high-skill opportunities that are being brought into some of these communities that are really eager to find ways to keep their best, keep their brightest in the places that they grow up in.' Across cleantech factories, annual earnings from clean energy manufacturing averaged $118,000, the study found, well above the average U.S. worker's pay of $76,000. It's not just immediate employees who benefit, though. First comes the intensive but temporary construction phase. Once complete, the factories create additional work for support services in the region, such as shipping and delivery companies, food vendors, hotels for visiting customers, and waste disposal. Domestic manufacturing also relies on other component suppliers: Utility-scale solar panels sit on American steel trackers, covered in U.S.-made solar glass. The authors calculate that each job in a clean energy factory leads to three more in supporting industries. This reality sounds a lot like the vision that Trump campaigned on last year, of growing jobs at home by restoring U.S. manufacturing from the ravages of globalization. He also repeatedly emphasizes a desire to secure more critical minerals for the U.S.; clean energy technologies provide much of the expected demand growth for those minerals. 'This administration talks a lot about an all-of-the-above energy strategy that facilitates American energy dominance,' Shiao said. 'I think there needs to continue to be that recognition that solar, wind, energy storage are key pieces and critical pieces to realizing that growth, certainly in terms of the speed at which those projects can be deployed.' The Ways and Means budget proposal dealt a blow to the cleantech industry's hopes for a predictable investment landscape. It was also the opening volley of a weekslong negotiating process that will soon involve the Senate as well. Amid all that uncertainty, ACP has at least provided some fresh numbers on the value clean energy factories have created in their short moment of ascendancy, as well as helped clarify what's at stake. 'We think we've got a winning message, one that is bringing positivity, and of course, economic growth to the country,' said John Hensley, ACP's senior vice president of markets and policy analysis. 'We're going to continue to tell that story, and hopefully it lands on ears that are willing to listen.'
Mint
19-05-2025
- Business
- Mint
Clean energy is under attack even where it's booming
US President Donald Trump has made no secret of his disdain for renewable energy. Just as challenging for the industry is fighting policy battles in parts of the U.S. where business has flourished. Tax credits for clean-electricity generation and manufacturing are set to vanish under a plan proposed last week by congressional Republicans. Meanwhile, lawmakers in states such as Texas and Arizona—home to some of the country's biggest renewable-energy projects—are considering clamping down with tougher permitting and rules. The shifting political landscape threatens to slow a booming business. Developers have built $145 billion in solar, wind and battery-storage projects since expanded federal tax credits were approved in 2022, while manufacturers have invested $73 billion in 94 factories that are now operating, according to the industry group American Clean Power. Those efforts have made a dent. Wind and large-scale solar output exceeded coal generation last year for the first time, comprising about 16% of U.S. electricity generation. Now, congressional Republicans trying to meet Trump's call for a 'big, beautiful" tax-and-spending bill are scrounging for dollars in the clean-energy sector. To extend tax cuts from his first administration that would otherwise expire, they are searching for trillions of dollars in spending cuts and curbs on tax breaks. Their initial proposal includes ending beefy tax credits for wind, solar, storage and clean-hydrogen projects that were enacted in former President Joe Biden's Inflation Reduction Act. Trump has called the IRA the 'green new scam." Despite an official phase-down over a period of years, new stringent provisions would make it more difficult to qualify for the credits. The bill stalled Friday, blocked by a conservative wing of House Republicans who want, among other things, a quicker wind-down of the tax breaks, but passed out of the House Budget Committee late Sunday. 'The practical effect is an abrupt repeal of these incentives that translates into significant tax hikes that are going to freeze investment," said Jason Grumet, chief executive of American Clean Power. The fight over clean energy comes as the power industry grapples with how to add projects to meet electricity demand that is rising for the first time in a generation. Data centers for artificial intelligence are popping up all around the U.S. and can require as much power as large cities. New manufacturing is driving demand higher, too. Rolling back IRA provisions would raise about $500 billion in revenue over a decade, according to the Joint Committee on Taxation. That includes targeting tax credits that buyers have used to lower the cost of switching to an electric vehicle and those for home-energy projects. The hit to the power sector could prove significant. More than three-fourths of the proposed solar projects and more than one-third of the wind farms in long queues to connect to the power grid needed tax incentives to be economically viable as of January, said Corianna Mah, analyst at Enverus Intelligence Research. A rollback could be politically tricky. About three dozen Republican members of Congress have pledged support of IRA provisions in recent weeks because most clean-energy projects are in Republican states. Even credits for nuclear power and geothermal technologies, which are popular among conservatives, would get swept up by a broad sunset of the legislation. A repeal of the IRA would raise electricity prices on average by more than 10% for residential and business customers in states including Arizona, Kansas, Maine, Nebraska, New Jersey and North Carolina between 2026 and 2032. Natural-gas prices would increase, too. That is according to a study by economic-consulting firm NERA that was released by trade group Clean Energy Buyers Association. Sheldon Kimber, chief executive of renewables developer Intersect Power, still plans $9 billion in investments this year. He says the industry might be able to win some limited changes to the proposed tax bill. 'I'm not counting on it getting a whole lot better," Kimber said. 'I am going down the path of telling my team and my investors that we need to start focusing on dealing with what is not what we wish or imagine." Meanwhile, lawmakers in Texas are again considering bills that would make projects more challenging. One, since whittled down, would have mandated that wind turbines be located at least eight football fields away from property lines. Another bill could require existing renewable generators to buy electricity or turn to backup power at times when they aren't producing, or pay fines. 'It's making people say long-term Texas is going to be a harder and harder place to develop projects," said Becky Diffen, a partner at law firm Norton Rose Fulbright in Austin, Texas. 'It does have a chilling effect on investment in the state." State Sen. Kevin Sparks, the bill's author, said utility regulators would have latitude to design a program that wouldn't harm existing projects, and that Texas has overbuilt renewables and needs more combined-cycle natural-gas plants and possibly nuclear-power projects. Texas can't afford to lose wind and solar output, Sparks said, but the legislature so far hasn't created a market where developers of natural-gas power plants are willing to come spend the capital to build in Texas. In Arizona, lawmakers are considering bills that would restrict wind farms from operating within 6 miles of residentially zoned property, or from operating within 25 miles of a county or city that opposes their development. 'You don't have that many counties in Arizona, so you quickly run out of land," said Troy Rule, a law professor at Arizona State University. With debate continuing over the state and federal bills, it is unclear which proposals will prevail, be watered down or wither. But the challenges are rising. A report from the Sabin Center for Climate Change Law at Columbia University last year identified at least 395 local restrictions in 41 states, along with 19 state-level rules stringent enough to block renewable-energy projects.
Yahoo
03-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Trump blames wind power for 'driving the whales a little bit loco' — paused new developments
President Donald Trump is not a fan of wind energy, in part because he believes it's having an adverse effect on the whales. 'You know, in one area, they lost two whales, like, in 20 years washed ashore,' the president told reporters at the White House recently, 'This year they had 17 wash ashore. So, there's something [that] happened out there. There's something driving the whales a little bit loco.' While many scientists dispute this claim, the fact is that the president is taking action to slow or even stop the development of this energy source. I'm 49 years old and have nothing saved for retirement — what should I do? Don't panic. Here are 5 of the easiest ways you can catch up (and fast) Nervous about the stock market in 2025? Find out how you can access this $1B private real estate fund (with as little as $10) Here are 3 'must have' items that Americans (almost) always overpay for — and very quickly regret. How many are hurting you? Specifically, he has temporarily halted the new leasing of federal waters for offshore wind projects. He has also directed federal agencies to pause permits and approvals of on- and off-shore wind development, including the already approved Lava Ridge Wind Project in Idaho. Unfortunately, this will impact American jobs, as the offshore wind sector was expected to employ 56,000 more people by 2030, according to a report by American Clean Power. It could also affect both the reliability and cost of electricity. Research has shown that producing wind power can be a very cost-effective way of providing power. Texans, for example, are saving as much as $20 million per day thanks to wind and solar energy, according to the Rocky Mountain Institute. With the development of wind power paused, the result could be higher energy bills. Consumers should start preparing for this possibility by taking a few key steps to help keep their utility costs down. Here are three options. There are many upgrades you can make to your home that can help reduce the amount of electricity you use and, in turn, help keep your costs down. One of the best options is upgrading to energy-efficient appliances. According to Energy Star, if you choose certified appliances, you can save around $8,750 on utility bills over the life of the product, reducing the cost of running the appliance by around 30%. While the U.S. Department of Energy suggests that you can save around 10% on your utility bill by adjusting your thermostat back 7 to 10 degrees for 8 hours each day. Programmable thermostats can make this process automatic, which makes saving money even easier. Other upgrades could include energy-efficient windows, adding more insulation to your home and using power strips to shut off the electricity to electronics and appliances, avoiding phantom power loss when you aren't using them. All of these steps can help you spend less on powering your home — even if you have no choice but to rely on fossil fuel energy. Read more: Trump warns his tariffs will spark a 'disturbance' in America — use this 1 dead-simple move to help shockproof your retirement plans ASAP Installing solar panels at home can be a great investment. reports that the payback time for most homeowners is less than 10 years. There are both state and federal incentives for installing solar power in many parts of the country, and you may be able to finance your system through a personal loan. You could also enter into a power purchase agreement, which means you wouldn't own the panels but would benefit from the clean power produced and still enjoy lower utility bills. The Database of State Incentives for Renewables & Efficiency can help you find programs in your area, and the Residential Clean Energy Credit, in effect through 2032, provides a tax credit equal to 30% of the cost of installation, which can be a big savings. In many parts of the country, you can also shop around for an electricity provider. Around 45 million consumers benefit from retail energy choice, and you can find out if you are one of them by visiting the website of your state's utility commission. If you live in a deregulated market and have the choice of who provides your electricity, you should compare options to see which company will charge you the least for the power you use. Many companies lock in your rate only for a limited period, so you may have to do this a few times a year — but you can realize potentially significant savings. Taking these steps could help you avoid increased electricity costs that you may be faced with if a shift towards alternative energy is held up at the federal level. Regardless, it can be worth finding ways to cut your utility bills, especially if you can invest a little bit up front and enjoy reduced costs for years to come. Want an extra $1,300,000 when you retire? Dave Ramsey says this 7-step plan 'works every single time' to kill debt, get rich in America — and that 'anyone' can do it Rich, young Americans are ditching the stormy stock market — here are the alternative assets they're banking on instead Cost-of-living in America is still out of control — and prices could keep climbing. Use these 3 'real assets' to protect your wealth today, no matter what Trump does This article provides information only and should not be construed as advice. It is provided without warranty of any kind.
