Were you forwarded this email? If you would like to signup to receive IRAirl directly, click here. 
 

The 411:

A little over six months since the IRA was signed into law and it’s already delivering historic climate and clean energy action. Even more impressively, in less than a year, we’ve seen long-term compounding benefits from the IRA’s investments: from a hot and growing EV market that is becoming mainstream to foreign private investment coming to the U.S. and heating up the clean energy job market. And just in the past couple of weeks, projects have been announced that include the United States’ largest-evercommunity solar purchase, a $5.5 billion investment by LG for American-made EV batteries, and an additional $147 million for solar panels manufactured in Georgia—stacked on top of a $2.5 project announcement from earlier this year! The IRA is doing it’s thing, but it’s doing it better than anyone could have ever imagined—and in what seems like record time.

At a Glance:

• INVESTMENTS ON THE WAY: The country’s largest-ever community solar purchase, a $5.5 billion EV battery plant in Arizona, $147 million to Georgia for solar panels, and $2 billion to South Carolina for EVs

• THE SKY’S THE LIMIT: Investors project the IRA’s investments will spur additional $3 trillion in private climate investments, and a new $1.3 billion lithium processing facility in South Carolina aims to double capacity manufacturing 2.4 million EVs per year

• ON THE GROUND IMPACT: Wisconsin ruling means expanded and independent ownership of solar, Colorado wind turbine plant expanding to double manufacturing capacity, U.S. Treasury provides guidance critical to the IRA’s environmental justice benefits, $1 billion for clean energy in rural and agricultural communities, and heat-pump coaching in Massachusetts

• IRA CHANGING THE GAME: Walmart quadruples current capacity with thousands of new EV charging stations, the IRA brings a winning movement to Washington, EVs continue to become a cornerstone of the Biden administration’s climate agenda while simultaneously growing to become 10% of all U.S. vehicle sales, and only 6 months in the IRA has is already achieving momentous heights

Biden Is Set to Propose Toughest-Ever Rules on Car Pollution to Spur EVs | Bloomberg | Jennifer Dlouhy | 4.6.23

Companies to announce major Ga. solar deal as Harris visits | Politico | David Iaconangelo | 4.6.23

Biden administration releases road map to scale up nuclear, hydrogen, and energy storage | Grist | Akielly Hu | 3.31.23

LG Will Spend $5.5 Billion on a Battery Factory in Arizona | The New York Times | Niraj Chokshi | 3.24.23

US Solar Capacity Gets Boost From $147 Million Hanwha Plant (1) | Bloomberg Tax | Will Wade | 3.23.23

VW Says There’s Never Been a Better Time to Build an EV Factory in the US | Bloomberg | Keith Naughton | 3.20.23

Goldman Sees Biden’s Clean-Energy Law Costing US $1.2 Trillion | Bloomberg | Josh Saul | 3.23.23

New South Carolina plant could process enough lithium for 2.4M EVs a year | Canary Media | Julian Spector | 3.23.23

Advocates say conditions may be improving for rooftop solar in Wisconsin | Energy News Network | Kari Lydersen | 4.6.23

Climate law spurs expansion of major wind turbine plant | Politico | Jason Plautz | 4.5.23

IRS guidance clarifies ‘energy community’ definition for IRA tax credit eligibility | Utility Dive | Diana DiGangi | 4.4.23

U.S. government to provide $1 billion for rural renewable energy | Reuters | Leah Douglas | 3.31.23

‘Heat-pump coaches’ help neighbors ditch fossil heat in Massachusetts | Canary Media | Alison F. Takemura | 3.29.23

What Congress Must Do Now to Speed Up the Green Energy Transition | TIME | Senator Angus King & Representative Scott Peters | 3.31.23

Walmart just illustrated how mainstream EVs are now | Grist | Kate Yoder | 4.7.23

How the climate movement learned to win in Washington | Politico | Eli Stokols | 4.2.23

​​White House touts EV progress as announcement looms | Politico | Mike Lee | 3.30.23

Bonus: Charting EV sales growth | Axios Generate | Ben Geman & Andrew Freedman | 3.24.23

IRA + 7 months—What’s happened in the US EV supply chain since IRA passed? My students and I are tracking it: | Jay Turner | 3.22.23

36 major new projects announced, 30,000 estimated jobs, $40 billion in announced capital investment

Six months in, the Inflation Reduction Act is already unleashing clean energy’s potential | The Hill | Bob Keefe

Interested in chatting with our team more about what these impacts mean for climate and clean energy? Reach out to us at elizabeth@evergreenaction.com.

###