Cover of the Clean Energy Investing in America report from the American Clean Power Association (ACP).
In just the last three months, over $40 billion of new grid-scale clean energy investments have been announced, a new report from the American Clean Power Association (ACP) shows. This is the same amount as the total investment estimated for all clean energy projects installed in 2021. The Clean Energy Investing in America report, released on December 14 is an analysis of the new U.S. clean energy landscape after the signing of the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), a law passed by the US congress in August.
The report points to major plans and projects announced by electric utilities Alliant, National Grid, Xcel Energy, Entergy Texas, Minnesota Power, and Public Service of Oklahoma (AEP). In addition, the report highlights more than $2.5 billion in customer savings from utilities across the country as a result of federal incentives that lower costs for planned renewable energy projects, rate decreases, and even refunds. Electric utilities making these announcements include CMS Energy, Duke Energy Florida, Florida Power and Light, WEC Energy Group, and MidAmerican. When project costs are less, utilities can rely less on customer rate increases to fund projects.
“It is crystal clear that federal support for clean energy is already having a positive impact on the American economy and on the American people,” said ACP Interim CEO and Chief Advocacy Officer JC Sandberg.
Alongside significant private investment, 20 new grid-scale clean energy manufacturing facilities have been announced in the U.S., bringing with them an expected 7,000 new American jobs.
“As a new era dawns in clean energy, America is laying the foundation to become a manufacturing powerhouse. This growing sector will create thousands of good paying jobs in communities across the U.S. and will help reduce dependence on foreign energy sources to meet our domestic needs,” said Sandberg.
The report also demonstrates that incentives approved by Congress earlier this year are being felt across the country. From Wisconsin to Texas, and Alabama to Colorado, the clean energy industry is building utility scale projects and manufacturing facilities that put America on a path to a clean energy future.
“To ensure the full potential of these investments and facilities, we urge the Administration and Congress to continue improving trade policies, enacting common sense permitting reform, and finalizing effective tax implementation,” concluded Sandberg.
Highlights from the report:
20 new clean energy manufacturing facilities have been publicly announced:
12 new solar manufacturing facilities
Over 300% increase in solar module manufacturing capacity
22 gigawatts (GW) in new solar module or cell manufacturing capacity
6 new grid-scale battery storage manufacturing facilities
1 reopening and 1 expansion of wind power manufacturing facilities
6,850 new jobs publicly announced
States that will see new or expanded facilities include Alabama, Arizona, Colorado, Georgia, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, New York, Ohio, Tennessee, and Texas, while other locations remain undetermined
Over $40 billion in capital investment announced
Split evenly between utilities and independent power producers
$2.5 billion in consumer savings announced
15 million Americans serviced by utilities who announced consumer savings
Over 13 gigawatts of new clean energy capacity announced
ACP’s Clean Energy Investing in America report is the first in what will be a series of regular reports.
