Latest news with #AmericanCleanPowerAssociation
Bloomberg
4 days ago
- Business
- Bloomberg
Lobbyists Blitz Senate to Save Billions in Energy Tax Credits
A coalition of clean energy trade groups are launching a lobbying blitz to convince the Senate to save billions of dollars in clean energy incentives set to be gutted by House-passed legislation. The American Clean Power Association is targeting moderate Republicans who have balked at the House's cuts to a host of lucrative tax credits as well as staff of the Senate's tax writing committee, according to people familiar with the matter who asked not to be named because the information is private.
Yahoo
30-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Clean power deployments neared record in Q1, but development pipeline growth slowed: ACP
This story was originally published on Utility Dive. To receive daily news and insights, subscribe to our free daily Utility Dive newsletter. Eight of the top 10 states for utility-scale clean energy deployment in the first quarter of 2025 voted Republican in last year's Presidential election, the American Clean Power Association said on Thursday. Texas was the runaway leader with more than 1,700 MW of wind, solar and energy storage deployments and a 20% year-over-year increase in total clean energy capacity. Florida, Indiana, Ohio and Wyoming rounded out the top five, ACP said. The 7.4 GW of new clean power capacity in the U.S. was the second-strongest Q1 on record. Energy storage was the fastest-growing segment, with nationwide battery storage capacity increasing 65% year over year. Total utility-scale clean energy deployments in the first quarter of this year came in 9% shy of the record-setting first quarter of 2024, when developers commissioned 8,089 MW of wind, solar and storage capacity, ACP said. ACP's data reflects the increasingly broad geography of utility-scale solar and storage deployments. Indiana quadrupled its energy storage capacity, adding 435 MW, while Illinois, Mississippi, Wisconsin and Ohio all deployed far more solar than California. Total U.S. clean energy capacity sits at about 320.9 GW — of which, 80.7 GW is in Texas, ACP said. The clean power development pipeline expanded as well, growing 12% year over year to reach about 184.4 GW and an estimated $328 billion in completed value. But that marks a slowdown from a year ago, when fully permitted clean power capacity under construction or in advanced development rose 26% from Q1 2023. Developers have canceled more than $14 billion in clean energy projects so far this year amid uncertainty over the future of federal tax credits for clean energy investment, production and manufacturing, according to the consulting group E2. ACP's latest report hinted at the scale of the potential risk to state and local economies if the House GOP's proposed rapid wind-down of energy tax credits remains in the final budget reconciliation bill that now sits before the Senate. Domestic manufacturing and energy production investments now generate $3.4 billion in annual tax revenue and landowner payments in rural communities and have created nearly 650,000 jobs, ACP said. 'We have the technology, investment capital and workforce required to build the $300+ billion of clean energy projects in our development pipeline,' Grumet said, describing those projects as shovel-ready. 'The greatest threat to a reliable energy system is an unreliable political system.' Utilities and independent power producers across the South, Midwest and West have proposed dozens of gigawatts of new gas-fired generation projects since 2023, including an up to 4.5-GW project in western Pennsylvania that could begin operations next year and eventually become the United States' largest gas power plant. But utility-scale gas power plant developers that have yet to order turbines may not get them for years as executives for major turbine OEMs GE Vernova, Mitsubishi and Siemens Energy warn of multi-year backlogs. Solar installations with signed interconnection agreements are comparatively fast to deploy, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. In 2023, the median solar project took 25 months from interconnection signing to commissioning and only about 19% of solar projects had to delay commissioning — a decrease from 23% in 2022, they said Recommended Reading House's 60-day deadline for IRA eligibility would trigger 'scramble': EY experts
E&E News
23-05-2025
- Business
- E&E News
Moderates promised to protect green credits. They folded.
Climate action advocates who banked on a group of moderate House Republicans to fight for lucrative renewable energy tax credits were sorely disappointed this week when those lawmakers opted not to hold the line in the GOP's party-line bill. Now, those advocates and clean energy companies are gearing up for a fight in the Senate with a similar playbook — but there's no guarantee that it'll work this time either. Defenders of the Democrats' 2022 climate law are hoping senators — operating in different political realities than House members — will soften the rapid phase-outs and strict new requirements for the tax incentives. Advertisement 'We're going to urge our supporters in the Senate to make significant changes to this bill,' said Frank Macchiarola, vice president of the American Clean Power Association, a leading trade group. 'We're going to work with them to show the flaws in this legislation that the House passed.' Rep. Andrew Garbarino (R-N.Y.), co-chair of the bipartisan Climate Solutions Caucus, helped lead an effort to protect the tax credits. After initial legislation emerged, he and others called for 'thoughtful changes.' But the changes ended up being in the opposite direction. As he left House Speaker Mike Johnson's office Wednesday night as the latest version of the bill was taking shape, Garbarino said he was 'not happy.' He ended up missing the vote but released a statement saying he would have been a 'yes.' House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) celebrating House passage of the 'One Big Beautiful Bill Act.' | Francis Chung/POLITICO The tax, energy and national security package proposes some of the most significant changes to energy policy in years. Senators on Thursday were still digesting the late-stage changes to the megabill. It would eliminate 'technology neutral' production and investment tax credits in 2028 for projects that have not started construction within 60 days of the law's enactment. There are big exceptions for nuclear power and biofuels — both sectors with long-running GOP support. While the renewable energy credits have fueled projects in Republican districts and states across the country, conservative hardliners are hellbent on finding savings. President Donald Trump has been adamant that the 'Green New Scam,' as he calls it, be eliminated. As such, the clean energy lobby has spent more than a year trying to cozy up to Republican lawmakers, contributing generously to their campaigns and targeting advertisements in red congressional districts. But some observers stressed that the American Clean Power Association is still just a few years old, and that the groups, think tanks and nongovernmental organizations that helped pass the Inflation Reduction Act were ill-equipped to defend the climate law with Republicans and Trump officials. Sen. Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.), a former state utility regulator and informal adviser to the president, said on Thursday, 'The IRA to some people is Joe Biden,' Cramer said. 'But when I see IRA, I don't think Joe Biden.' Still, he suggested the House may have found the right balance between climate law defenders and its foes. 'I think they did pretty well,' said Cramer. Sen. John Curtis (R-Utah), who founded the Conservative Climate Caucus in the House, said Thursday he wanted to take a closer look at the incentives for the GOP-favored nuclear industry and left the door open to more tweaks. 'I don't know where that lands,' he said of the final tax break language, stressing the importance of protecting business certainty. 'Many of these things are very important to President Trump's agenda, and included is that where is this power going to come from.' 'Screaming and hollering' Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) has insisted his chamber would have a deliberative committee process to leave their imprint on the legislation. He told reporters Thursday that the Senate is 'going to write our own bill.' While some observers assume the clean energy sections will be modified, many are skeptical it would be a complete overhaul. After all, the deal struck in the House had the Trump stamp of approval and worked to balance fiercely opposed factions. 'I think it looks like some screaming and hollering right until the last minute and suddenly there will be 50 votes,' Cramer said. 'And I would not expect anything less and would encourage it. And I don't think anyone should give up on their ambitions until they have to — until they're confronted with the binary moment.' Moderates like Curtis and Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) have expressed reservations about gutting the IRA, but neither specified Thursday what they would change in the clean energy tax provisions. Tillis, a Finance Committee member, expressed concern about potentially 'devastating' businesses that have invested millions or billions of dollars, causing a 'chilling effect' throughout the economy, but he also stressed fiscal prudence. 'We need to get closer to deficit neutrality,' he said. 'And if you take a look at some of the production or investment tax credit policy, we need to look at it through a lense of a business person.' Sen. Thom Tillis speaks with reporters as he arrives for a vote at the U.S. Capitol on Feb. 18. | Francis Chung/POLITICO ACP will be among the groups trying hard to influence Republican senators in the coming weeks. The group, born out of the defunct American Wind Power Association, has been working for years to woo Republicans. But Trump and his allies have been deeply hostile to renewables, particularly wind. Asked about lessons learned, Macchiarola suggested it was too soon for such reflection. 'We certainly don't do everything right all of the time,' he said. 'But we do have the right message. And we do have the right messengers. The message is that clean energy tax incentives have provided enormous benefits for this country, both its energy security and its economic vitality. The messengers are twofold: the men and women who work in this industry every day to keep the lights on and power our lives and the consumers.' Macchiarola said the group's rough estimates were that the House bill would drive electricity bills up $400 per individual per year. 'We've put a lot of time and resources and our political capital as an industry into that message because it's so critically important,' he said. ACP has donated considerably to Republicans in recent years, including to Garbarino, who emerged as one of the leading House moderates signaling his support for parts of the climate law. A 40-year-old lawmaker from a blue state, Garbarino earned praise Thursday from Johnson for his help during days of negotiations. Aside from the energy credits, Garbarino worked to raise limits on state and local tax dedications. 'My great friend Andrew played an essential role in negotiations among Members, and is a primary reason we were able to secure the deals which allowed us to pass our nation-shaping legislation this morning,' Johnson said. A statement from Garbarino said, 'I am proud to have been the leading voice on Long Island during negotiations on this key reconciliation bill. I fought to lift the cap on SALT and ensure hardworking Long Island families see the benefits of this important legislation.' 'Not a good look' Lawmakers like Garbarino and Rep. Jen Kiggans (R-Va.) fired off letters and statements this year and last urging leaders to protect at least some climate law credits. It was akin to a soft red line. But they never publicly threatened to tank the bill to get their way. Republican lobbyist Mike McKenna had nothing but contempt for Garbarino's efforts, saying the 'pro-IRA caucus started its work with that embarrassing, nonsensical letter and wrapped up by having its lead dog basically taking a pee while the vote was going on.' 'Not a good look,' he said. In recent months, ACP and the Solar Energy Industries Association tried to influence dozens of Republicans with fly-in days, bringing executives from hundreds of companies to Capitol Hill to talk to lawmakers about new battery factories or manufacturing plants employing their constituents. SEIA even passed around 'American energy dominance' stickers, a clear nod to Trump. But this week when ACP convened for its annual CleanPower conference in Phoenix, one attendee asked the chief advocacy officer on a panel why there weren't phone booths all around so people could call their representatives, according to one person in attendance granted anonymity to speak freely. When asked about this exchange later, an ACP spokesperson noted that everyone there had a cellphone. Jeff Navin, founder of consulting firm Boundary Stone, worried the clean energy industry would make the same mistake again. 'Here we are, the day of the passage, and I'm hearing a lot of people saying they felt confident things would be OK because of the letter Republicans sent,' he said. 'They are now saying the exact same things in the Senate — that things are just automatically going to get better?' Indeed, advocates and lobbyists say their messaging to lawmakers is unlikely to change in the Senate, even though their efforts in the House did not yield the results they had hoped for. 'This fight is far from over' Renewable energy boosters say the Senate, where members represent broader constituencies, is a different ball game. 'The Senate traditionally is a place where cooler heads prevail,' said Zach Friedman, senior director for federal policy at the sustainability group Ceres. 'Being elected statewide and for six-year terms and larger staff, etc., senators look at this differently and we're going to be continuing to educate folks.' House passage means advocates can focus their pitches to senators on the impacts that particular provisions could have on business interests or electricity rates in their states, rather than on broad demands and hypotheticals. 'You can talk about the specifics of a billion-dollar project, an energy infrastructure project, that produces affordable, reliable, homegrown energy, and [how] that won't happen' because of the phase-outs and restrictions that the House bill proposes, Friedman said. The House's legislation 'is an effective way to freeze investment, and if folks want investment back home, then specific changes have to be made,' he said. 'This fight is far from over,' said Harry Godfrey, managing director at Advanced Energy United, a trade association. 'And while it might not be visible at the moment, I think that profound frustration will continue to play out as this bill moves forward.' Reporters Timothy Cama and Nico Portoundo contributed.
The Verge
20-05-2025
- Business
- The Verge
Republican lawmakers could soon kill clean energy jobs in their home states
Renewable energy has driven a manufacturing boom in the US, but that's all at stake as Congress weighs cuts to Biden-era tax incentives. Solar, wind, and battery companies have announced plans to either create or expand 250 manufacturing facilities since August 2022. That's when Congress passed the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), considered the biggest federal investment to date in climate and clean energy. If those projects are up and running by 2030, they would collectively create more than 575,000 jobs and contribute $86 billion annually to gross domestic product, according to a report published today by the American Clean Power Association (ACP). Republican districts benefit the most from the IRA's clean energy tax credits. But now, GOP lawmakers could take away those tax incentives if they follow through with President Donald Trump's plan to pass a 'big, beautiful' spending bill that would rollback what he calls a ' green new scam.' 'Republican districts benefit the most from the IRA's clean energy tax credits' Red states are home to 73 percent of active facilities, according to the ACP. And already, solar, wind, and battery manufacturing supports 122,000 full-time jobs. Solar manufacturing employed the biggest share of Americans, some 75,400 people. Solar was the fastest-growing source of electricity in 2024, according to data from the US Energy Information Administration, accounting for 81 percent of added annual capacity. Costs for solar and wind have fallen dramatically for decades, with utility-scale solar now the cheapest source of electricity in most parts of the world. Despite that growth, supply chains for solar energy have been concentrated in China and beset with concerns about forced labor and human rights violations, particularly in the Xinjiang region. The Inflation Reduction Act was meant to supercharge domestic manufacturing, largely through tax credits. And it was starting to pay off. Manufacturing capacity for solar modules grew 190 percent in the US last year, according to a separate report by the Solar Energy Industries Association and research firm Wood Mackenzie. Those tax credits are now in the crosshairs of a Republican-controlled Congress trying to ram Trump's agenda into a sweeping spending bill. A draft bill from the House Ways and Means committee last week proposes phasing out the advanced manufacturing tax credit (45x) and other tax incentives for renewables established in the IRA, and would add stipulations in the meantime that would make it difficult for projects to qualify for credits. If those proposals are ultimately signed into law, the US clean energy industry will see job losses as factories shut down, MJ Shiao, ACP Vice President of Supply Chain and Manufacturing said during a press briefing last week. 'What we have seen from these texts from House Ways and Means, it basically goes too far, too fast,' Shiao said. 'The manufacturers that were being supported by these incentives, and frankly, were trusting that the government was going to honor these incentives, you know, they're getting the rug pulled out from under them.'
Yahoo
13-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Amid tariff uncertainty, US grid battery industry faces an uphill climb
Companies making and deploying lithium-ion batteries in the U.S. recently gathered in Washington, D.C., to ask the federal government for the policy support they say they need. Their request came alongside a big promise: to cumulatively spend $100 billion by 2030 to build a self-sufficient, all-American grid battery industry. 'Within five years, and with $100 billion in investment, we can satisfy 100% of U.S. demand for battery storage,' said Jason Grumet, CEO of the American Clean Power Association, a trade group. 'This is unquestionably an ambitious commitment, but it is absolutely achievable if the private and public sectors work together,' he said. The $100 billion promise represents a major increase in the $10 billion to $15 billion that the American Clean Power Association estimates was invested in U.S. grid battery manufacturing and deployment last year. As recently as a few months ago, industry analysts largely agreed that a domestic ramp-up on the scale of what Grumet proposes was at least possible, if not inevitable. Lucrative federal tax credits for companies that build and deploy clean energy technology within the nation's borders have helped close the price gap between U.S.-made batteries and those made in China, the world's main supplier of lithium-ion battery modules, cells, and materials. These tax incentives, created by the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act, have also helped bolster the economics of installing large-scale batteries alongside solar power. Solar and batteries are by far the fastest-to-deploy option for utilities seeking to meet rising electricity demand from data centers, factories, electric vehicles, and broader economic growth. The two energy sources have dominated new additions to the U.S. grid in recent years. But that's changing under the Trump administration. Republicans in Congress may kill the Biden-era tax credits that make domestic battery manufacturing possible. The Department of Energy Loan Programs Office, which has lent huge sums to battery manufacturers like Eos and Kore Power, could soon be shuttered or radically scaled back. And President Donald Trump's aggressive and ever-shifting tariffs are making it more expensive for manufacturers to produce batteries in the U.S., since the duties raise the costs of everything from cells imported from China to general-purpose materials like steel and aluminum. On Monday, China and the U.S. announced they'd temporarily ease tariffs on one another, but the situation has not been permanently resolved and leaves tariffs on Chinese imports at 30%. Manufacturers and developers still lack clarity about what the underlying economics of their business will look like months from today. As Grumet conceded in a briefing with reporters before the American Clean Power Association's D.C. media event in April, 'there is a remarkable tension right now between probably the best fundamentals for investment in the energy sector that we've seen in a generation and the greatest amount of uncertainty that we've seen in a generation.' When it comes to plugging batteries into the U.S. power grid, tariffs are the most immediate threat by far. The impacts are already showing up in sagging forecasts and postponed projects. In February, the U.S. Energy Information Administration predicted the country would deploy more than 18 gigawatts of batteries in 2025, up from 11 gigawatts in 2024, continuing what's been a meteoric increase over the past several years. But the forecast for 2025 grid battery additions has fallen in recent months, at least according to the latest analysis from the American Clean Power Association and consultancy Wood Mackenzie, which is tucked into the end of the clean energy industry group's fact sheet for its $100 billion-by-2030 investment pledge. They predict that a little over 13 GW of energy storage will be plugged into the nation's grid this year. Several factors play into that drop-off, but the primary one is that nearly 70% of lithium-ion batteries in the U.S. came from China last year — and that tariffs on Chinese lithium-ion batteries and components had spiked to 156% as of last month, according to BloombergNEF. Monday's news that the U.S. and China had agreed to a 90-day pause on their dueling tariffs means that the blanket 145% tariffs that the Trump administration had imposed on China in April will fall to 30% as of Wednesday — at least if the deal holds. Now, once again, energy storage companies will be recalibrating the economics of their projects, almost all of which currently rely on battery materials or components from China. 'For the next five to seven years, there is no cost-effective, time-critical alternative to battery storage to meet domestic electricity demand,' said David Fernandes, chief financial officer of OnEnergy, a grid storage and microgrid developer with 120 megawatt-hours of projects in operation and 3 gigawatt-hours in development across the U.S. and Latin America. 'That means cells from China.' Tariffs on Chinese imports simply mean the batteries that the U.S. grid needs 'will just be more expensive,' he said, which will in turn drive up electricity prices. Regardless of where tariffs settle, they have already disrupted some grid storage projects. Take Fluence, a major U.S.-based energy storage provider that's made more than $700 million in commitments to manufacture battery cells and modules in the U.S. to date, according to John Zahurancik, Fluence's president of the Americas. In its second-quarter earnings call last week, the company reported a significant downward revision in its 2025 revenue forecasts, driven by decisions to 'pause U.S. projects under existing contracts' and 'defer entry into pending contracts until there exists better visibility and certainty on the tariff environment.' More delays are on their way, according to Ravi Manghani, senior director of strategic sourcing at Anza Renewables, a data analytics firm focused on solar and energy storage. Of the batteries bound for grid storage deployments in the U.S. in 2025, roughly half are 'at risk of getting delayed or renegotiated to make the economics work in 2026 and beyond,' he said. Some larger-scale projects scheduled to come online this year have likely already brought their batteries into the country, escaping the tariff premium, Manghani said. But many that are procuring batteries now for delivery from late 2025 to early 2026 'are indefinitely postponed until we get more clarity around where the tariffs end up, and what happens to non-Chinese manufacturing at large,' he said. Projects that are being built as part of state-regulated utilities' broader generation and grid plans may be able to absorb cost increases, he said. But 'merchant projects' that are operated by independent power producers in competitive energy markets are 'still figuring out if they can pencil out,' he said. In a Monday email, Manghani updated his view based on the latest news of a U.S.-China trade rapprochement. 'We will have to see if suppliers can actually ship out within this 90-day window,' he wrote. The determination of which countries end up having the most affordable battery components in the long run 'will depend not only on which countries have tariffs, but where the tariff percentages exactly land.' Trump's seesawing on tariffs 'just adds another layer of complexity for long-term investments,' Manghani added. Those dynamics could crimp the rapid pace of development in the competitive energy market of Texas, the country's grid energy storage leader. Stephanie Smith, chief operating officer at grid battery developer Eolian, said during the American Clean Power Association's April briefing that Texas has been well-served by its fleet of grid batteries, which have helped the state ride through summer heat waves while avoiding grid emergencies that have plagued it in the past. But it's going to be harder for Texas, and the rest of the country, to keep rapidly installing grid batteries in the face of rising prices for Chinese batteries. Eolian is scrambling to 'source as much outside of China as possible right now' to deal with the tariffs, Smith said. But 'obviously, there are some limitations on that.' Despite the uncertainty and rising prices, utilities and grid operators desperate to meet rising electricity demand have little choice but to build more batteries, said Gary Dorris, CEO and cofounder of clean energy-focused consultancy Ascend Analytics. That's because the alternative — new gas-fired power plants — takes much, much longer to build. Manufacturers of the turbines used in gas power plants are reporting up to four-year wait times for customers seeking to build power plants not already in the works, Dorris told Canary Media in an email. Solar panels and batteries, by contrast, can be ordered, shipped, and deployed in less than a year. While the specifics of Trump's tariffs matter — there is, after all, an enormous difference between 156% and 30% tariffs on China — at this point the hardest thing for manufacturers is 'the confusion surrounding' trade policy, Dorris said. Firms are asking, 'What are the goals? Will they stay in place? How will other countries react?' he said. 'This has created a lot of uncertainty, which suppresses appetite for making large, irreversible capital investment decisions.' This unpredictability, paired with the immediate price hikes on imported materials and equipment needed to build and expand factories, has hurt the U.S. manufacturers that the Trump administration's tariffs are ostensibly meant to help. These impacts are particularly dangerous for the still-nascent U.S. battery manufacturing sector. The American Clean Power Association is tracking 25 major projects to build or expand grid-scale energy storage factories in the U.S., of which 11 are in operation or under construction. Much of this manufacturing capacity is for battery modules, meaning it continues to rely on Chinese battery cells and materials. 'The domestic supply chain is unfortunately going to be at the receiving end of the tariff,' Manghani said. 'A lot of the raw materials that would go into domestic batteries, as well as the manufacturing equipment you need to build these cell factories, are still slated to come from China. We don't have a lot of alternatives yet.' That dependence on Chinese-made cells underscores just how vulnerable today's battery-manufacturing industry is to tariffs, Grumet said. Some domestic facilities are also starting to make those cells and refine and manufacture battery materials. Those include the facilities that Fluence has invested in that are making battery modules, cells, and associated equipment in Utah and Tennessee. It also includes Tesla's expanding cell-manufacturing capacity from its factories in Nevada and Texas, and its lithium-refining facility in Texas. Speaking at the American Clean Power Association's D.C. event, Michael Snyder, Tesla's vice president of energy and charging, highlighted the EV and grid battery manufacturer's advances in lithium iron phosphate cells. These cells are safer and easier to source materials for than nickel manganese cobalt cells and have become the favored technology for EV batteries and grid batteries alike. Today, Chinese companies make 99% of the world's lithium iron phosphate cells, according to Benchmark. 'We think we're going to be the first non-Chinese company making these cells at scale, and we know there are a lot of other companies working on that as well,' Snyder said. South Korea-based LG Energy Solution in February announced plans to invest $1.4 billion in U.S. lithium iron phosphate cell production for grid storage, which will take place at the firm's existing factory in Holland, Michigan. But those efforts are in their early stages, and they'll only succeed if they have customers to buy their products — a prospect made less certain by the chill settling in over grid battery deployment. The Trump administration's hostility to Biden-era climate policy and its broad support for fossil fuels is undermining investor confidence in the continued growth of U.S. grid battery markets, with consequences for the domestic manufacturing projects that would aim to supply them. The first three months of 2025 saw cancellations of billions of dollars in planned battery cell-manufacturing investment from Freyr Battery (now T1 Energy) in Georgia and Kore Power in Arizona. But the bigger threat to U.S. clean energy deployment and manufacturing is the possibility that Republicans in Congress will undo the tax credits created by the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act to benefit companies that build and deploy lithium-ion batteries and many other clean energy technologies. Republicans in Congress have pledged to extend tax cuts passed during the first Trump administration that will add trillions of dollars to the federal deficit, and they are hunting for federal spending cuts to make that possible. The estimated $780 billion in clean-energy tax credits is a tempting target. Some Republicans are arguing to keep the tax credits that undergird major investments in factories and power projects in their districts, while others have called for eliminating them completely. These incentives currently boost the economics for grid battery projects with a 30% base credit on the cost of the up-front investment, but developers can get more if the projects obtain a certain amount of materials from domestic suppliers or if they are built in 'energy communities' that face losses in jobs and economic activity due to closures of fossil fuel infrastructure. The tax credits have accelerated storage deployments — and boosted demand for batteries from U.S. manufacturers. But for battery manufacturers, the most vital piece of policy is the 45X Advanced Manufacturing Production tax credit. That credit is tied to every unit of battery module, cell, component, and material produced domestically, at a level designed to make them cost-competitive with Chinese products. 45X has been the primary spur for investors committing hundreds of billions of dollars to U.S. clean technology manufacturing. It's hard to see how those investors could keep their commitments if that support went away — and harder still to see how any new factories will be planned now, while the fate of that incentive is up in the air.
