This week marks the third anniversary of the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (ARP), and Secretary of the U.S. Department of the Treasury Janet L. Yellen marked the occasion with a visit to Elizabethtown, KY to tour the new Advanced Nano Products (ANP) facility. Secretary Yellen was joined at ANP by Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear.
In August 2022, ANP — a supplier of carbon battery nanomaterials used in electric vehicle (EV) battery production — announced a $49.6 million investment in Hardin County. The project would create 93 jobs to supply battery producers including BlueOvalSK Battery Park.
Enactment of the ARP in March 2021 laid the foundation for passage of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, CHIPS and Science Act, and Inflation Reduction Act (IRA). Ahead of Yellen’s ANP visit, the Treasury published new analysis on the impact of the IRA in bringing clean energy investment to communities that have been underserved and at the forefront of fossil fuel production.
“Since the IRA was passed, we’re seeing $4.5 billion per month announced in energy communities, even more than the $3.5 billion announced elsewhere.”
— Treasury Secretary Janet L. Yellen
The new report builds on previous Treasury Department analysis and includes clean investment project announcements from the second half of 2023. In the new data, Treasury economists continue to observe that since the IRA passed, announced investments in sectors of the economy targeted by the law — including clean vehicles, critical minerals, solar, and batteries — continue to be especially large in energy communities. These communities are historically dependent on fossil energy jobs and tax revenues, including areas with closed coal mines or coal-fired power plants, as well as communities that have significant employment or local tax revenues from fossil fuels and higher than average unemployment.
The new data suggests the IRA is achieving its goal of revitalizing communities at the forefront of fossil fuel production, where potential exists but opportunity has been scarce.
“We’ve seen investments grow significantly,” remarked Yellen in prepared comments. “Companies have announced almost $650 billion in investments in clean energy and manufacturing across the country since the start of the Administration. Pre-IRA, clean energy investments in energy communities — places that had traditionally relied on industries like coal, for example — were at only $2 billion a month, compared to $2.5 billion in other places. Based on the updated Treasury analysis published today, since the IRA was passed, we’re seeing $4.5 billion per month announced in energy communities, even more than the $3.5 billion announced elsewhere.”
11 Major U.S. Clean Energy Projects Announced
As of November 2023, businesses had announced over 265 new clean energy projects in 41 states since August 2022, when the IRA was signed into law. Read more…
11 Major U.S. Clean Energy Projects AnnouncedIn the analysis, Assistant Secretary for Economic Policy (P.D.O.) Eric Van Nostrand and Matthew Ashenfarb write, “After the IRA passed, those numbers ballooned to nearly $4.5 billion per month in Energy Communities and to $3.5 billion in the rest of the U.S., constituting increases of $2.4 billion per month in Energy Communities and a $1 billion per month in the rest of the U.S. Clean investment announcements are growing throughout the U.S., with especially strong growth in Energy Communities.”
They continue, “Before the IRA, 68% of announced investments in clean technologies were in counties with median incomes below the U.S. aggregate median income. After the IRA, 75% of announced clean investments have been in counties with median incomes below the U.S. aggregate median.”
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