A nonpartisan business group that advocates for clean energy has estimated that 403,000 jobs will be created by the 210 major energy projects announced since the Inflation Reduction Act took effect in mid-2022. The total investment announced for these projects is at least $86 billion.
The biggest job gains are expected in the electric vehicles, battery storage, and solar energy sectors. The Electric Vehicle (EV) industry demonstrated the most robust reaction to the IRA, accounting for 58% of the investments during the project announcements. It is projected that battery storage will facilitate 48,000 jobs annually, and solar power will provide for 35,000 jobs each year, both over a span of five years.
Indirect employment opportunities stemming from the newly announced projects might encompass lumber mills expanding their workforce to cater to the increasing need for construction supplies, and eateries experiencing a surge in customers as construction workers from new factories begin to dine there.
Form Energy, a company building multi-day batteries in Weirton, West Virginia, has committed to creating 750 permanent jobs at its factory by 2028. CEO Mateo Jaramillo attributed the company’s rapid scaling to the backing received from both state and federal governments.
The Inflation Reduction Act, signed in August 2022, contains $500 billion in new federal spending to lower healthcare costs, increase tax revenues, and address climate change by offering incentives so clean tech companies innovate and manufacture in the U.S.
According to a report issued by Environmental Entrepreneurs (E2) on Wednesday, October 31, 2023, the biggest job gains are expected in the electric vehicles, battery storage, and solar energy sectors. The report also states that the 210 major energy projects announced since the Inflation Reduction Act took effect in mid-2022 will create 403,000 jobs.
CEO
