ORIGINAL REPORTING: The IRA And The New Energy Boom

Treasury Department guidance urgently needed to tap IRA’s clean energy ‘gold mine,’ analysts say; Billions in Inflation Reduction Act incentives can “hard-wire” clean energy into the U.S. economy, new data show

Herman K. Trabish, March 16, 2023 (Utility Dive)

Federal clean energy supports in the August 2022 Inflation Reduction Act, or IRA, could transform the U.S. economy, analysts widely agree.

By December, announcements for “over $40 billion” in new capital were committed to over 13 GW of new clean energy, and 20 manufacturing facilities representing over 6,850 new jobs, the American Clean Power Association, or ACP, reported in December.

But by March 1, nearly 4,000 comments submitted to the U.S. Treasury Department by clean energy advocates and analysts had requested clarification on how investors can be certain of qualifying for the IRA’s new and extended tax credits, grants, and programs.

Many of the IRA’s boldest programs are “far from prescriptive,” and federal agencies, other regulators and utilities “will ultimately shape” them, Regulatory Affairs and Market Development Manager Erica Larson and Senior Director, Energy Business Development Justin Rodgers, both with global business consulting firm ICF, wrote in October.

A major hurdle remains. “The big job in front of us is implementing the laws we passed,” President Biden told House Democrats March 1. That will require Treasury Department rulings, expected in the first half of 2023, on IRA terms like prevailing wages, qualifying apprenticeships, energy communities, domestic content, and direct pay of tax credits, people preparing to do the implementation said.

But the IRA’s potential to drive game-changing energy sector transformation remains clear.

With the IRA added to 2022’s record-breaking generation from clean energy sources, the clean energy sector will be “hard-wired into the U.S. economy,” Amy Farrell, senior vice president of government and public affairs for clean energy advocate CRES Forum, said March 6…

Editor’s note: The domestic production requirements remain barriers to growth but overall the act is growing jobs and property taxes around the country. click here for more

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