Advanced Energy Perspectives

The 2022 election is still not in the books, but with the outcome of most contests already known, advanced energy and its champions at the state and federal level were clear winners. Heading into any midterm election we expect to see a swing away from the sitting president’s party. This year that meant the potential to see the progress of the past four years slowed in key states across the country and at the federal level. But now, with the votes mostly tallied, we can say the stage is set for more clean energy progress next year, especially with the funds and incentives from federal legislation arriving in states ready to put it to work.

Last week, the White House and Congress celebrated the one-year anniversary of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act – IIJA, also known as the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. Between IIJA and the more-recently enacted Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), the federal government has devoted almost $500 billion in grants, tax credits, and other incentives to accelerate America’s energy transition, electrify transportation, and address many of the energy-related challenges facing the nation. For all the attention paid to the work inside the Beltway, however, whether the U.S. realizes that potential hinges largely on what happens outside the Beltway.

2022 has been a banner year for clean energy, with several important policy, market, and geopolitical drivers shifting the conversation. Electric building heating technologies are no exception and as the use of natural gas declines in response to these trendlines, a lot remains “TBD” on how to transition away from the fossil fuel. Because the decisions we make today will lock in infrastructure and costs for decades, state policymakers are beginning to reexamine the way we plan and pay for the use of gas in buildings today. They need new tools, and AEE is here to help. 

AEE’s Leah Rubin Shen, Nat Kreamer, and Jeff Dennis on the White House South Lawn.

Yesterday, the White House held a celebration of the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), the largest clean energy and climate investment in U.S. history. The bill marks a turning point in the transition away from fossil fuels to the clean energy technologies that will replace them and will pack a tangible boost for America’s economy. That gives our industry a lot to celebrate, and on this day, AEE made the most of it.

On Tuesday, President Biden signed the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), the most significant legislation ever enacted to advance clean energy, electrify transportation, and combat climate change. That much has been well established. What’s been underappreciated is just how transformational the IRA could be. Akin to the industrial policies of earlier eras, it has the potential to reshape the U.S. economy. Employing tax incentives, grants, loans, and innovative financial tools, the IRA, when combined with the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act passed last year, will leverage billions in public capital to catalyze trillions in private investment and total economic impact. In so doing, it is poised to rapidly expand domestic markets for advanced energy and transportation technologies, revitalize American manufacturing, and reshape how we produce and use electricity. In other words, as industrial policy for an advanced energy economy, the whole of IRA is greater than the sum of its parts.