This week marks the third anniversary of the 2021 American Rescue Plan (ARP) Act, and US Treasury Secretary Janet L. Yellen marked the occasion with a visit to Elizabethtown, Kentucky, to tour the new Advanced Nano Products (ANP) installation. Secretary Yellen was joined at ANP by Kentucky Governor Andy Bescher.
In August 2022, ANP—a supplier of carbon battery nanomaterials used in the production of electric vehicle (EV) batteries—announced a $49.6 million investment in Hardin County. The project will create 93 jobs supplying battery manufacturers, including the BlueOvalSK Battery Park.
Passage of the ARP in March 2021 laid the groundwork for passage of the bipartisan Infrastructure Act, the CHIPS and Science Act, and the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA). Ahead of Yellen’s visit to ANP, the Treasury Department released a new analysis of the IRA’s impact on attracting clean energy investment to underserved communities at the forefront of fossil fuel production.
“Since the IRA was passed, we’ve seen $4.5 billion a month announced in the energy communities, even more than the $3.5 billion announced elsewhere.”
— Treasury Secretary Janet L. Yellen
The new report builds on previous Treasury analysis and includes announcements of net investment projects from the second half of 2023. In the new data, Treasury economists continue to note that since the adoption of the IRA, announced investment in sectors of the economy, targeted by the law—including clean vehicles, critical minerals, solar power, and batteries—continue to loom large in the energy community. These communities are historically dependent on fossil energy jobs and tax revenue, including areas with closed coal mines or coal-fired power plants, and communities that have significant employment or local tax revenue from fossil fuels and higher than average unemployment.
New data shows the IRA is achieving its goal of revitalizing communities at the forefront of fossil fuel production, where potential exists but opportunity is scarce.
“We’ve seen investment pick up significantly,” Yellen noted in prepared remarks. “Companies have announced nearly $650 billion in clean energy and manufacturing investments across the country since the administration began. Before the IRA, clean energy investment in energy communities — places that traditionally relied on industries like coal, for example — was just $2 billion a month, compared to $2.5 billion elsewhere. Based on the Treasury Department’s updated analysis released today, following the passage of the IRA, we are seeing $4.5 billion per month announced in the energy communities, even more than the $3.5 billion announced elsewhere.
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As of November 2023, companies have announced over 265 new clean energy projects in 41 states since August 2022, when the IRA was signed into law. Read more…
In the analysis, Assistant Secretary for Economic Policy (PDO) Eric Van Nostrand and Matthew Aschenfarb wrote, “After the passage of the IRA, these numbers increased to nearly $4.5 billion per month in the energy communities and to $3.5 billion in the rest of the U.S., accounting for increases of $2.4 billion per month in energy communities and $1 billion per month in the rest of the U.S. Net investment announcements are up in the U.S., with particularly strong growth in energy communities.”
They continue: “Prior to the IRA, 68% of announced cleantech investments were in counties with median incomes below the overall U.S. median income. After the IRA, 75% of reported net investment was in counties with median incomes below the aggregate U.S. median income.”
