$430 Million for US Clean Energy Manufacturing in Coal Communities
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Once upon a time, presidential candidate Hillary Clinton made the horrible mistake of telling people that coal power wasn’t coming back in the US, was going to continue to shrink, and people living in coal communities would need to be retrained in clean energy careers. Sacrilege! As bad as a president sending a mob after his own vice president because he won’t break the law to stop the transfer of power after an electoral defeat? Probably. In any case, though, what we know is Hillary was right.
Coal power declined in the US through the Trump presidency, and has declined through the Biden president as well. Coal power just isn’t competitive. So, people living in coal communities need to be retrained for new jobs in new fields. The good news is the Biden–Harris Administration has just dished out $430 million for this. I’m sure rural folk in coal country will thank Biden and Harris for this by voting for Kamala in the coming weeks. Right?
Let’s get into some of the details now. “As part of the Biden–Harris Administration’s historic Investing in America agenda, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) today announced $428 million for 14 projects to accelerate domestic clean energy manufacturing in 15 coal communities across the United States,” the DOE wrote earlier today. “The projects, led by small-and medium-businesses in communities with de-commissioned coal facilities, were selected by DOE’s Office of Manufacturing and Energy Supply Chains (MESC) to address critical energy supply chain vulnerabilities. Five of the projects will be in, or adjacent to, disadvantaged communities, and every project will include a community benefits plan developed to maximize economic, health, and environmental benefits in the coal communities that power our nation for generations. Each project further positions the United States to win the competition for the 21st century and strengthen our national security by building supply chains for existing and emerging technologies in America, built by American workers with American materials. The projects will leverage over $500 million in private sector investment into small- and medium-manufacturers and create over 1,900 good-paying, high quality jobs.”
This is a lifeline for thousands of people who put in the hard work to keep power on in our country. Thankfully, someone was thinking of them … and in power to do something about them.
“Under President Biden and Vice President Harris’s leadership, we are leading an unprecedented expansion of American energy production, a manufacturing renaissance, and the essential work of rebuilding our middle class. This is especially true in former coal communities, which are mounting a clean energy comeback by harnessing the urgent climate challenge in front of us and the clean energy solutions we invented here in America,” said White House National Climate Advisor Ali Zaidi. “These investments from the Biden-Harris Administration — catalyzing even more in private sector investment — will lift up these energy communities by creating good-paying union jobs, enhancing our supply chains, and ensuring that the next generation of clean energy technologies are made here in America.”
Yes, this is part of a much broader, much bigger effort to reshore manufacturing jobs in the United States. There’s never been anything like it in the history of our country. Regarding recent history, here’s another story to look into: US Manufacturing Has Soared Under Biden & Harris, Was Stagnant Under Trump.
To close, though, below are each of the projects receiving funding in this $430 million program (via DOE).
- Anthro Energy — Louisville, KY
- $24.9 million selection to retrofit a facility to enable the domestic production of advanced electrolyte for use in Lithium-ion battery (LIB) cells in electric vehicles (EV), defense applications, and consumer electronics. The project will create an estimated 115 permanent high-quality jobs.
- CleanFiber — Chehalis, WA and Ennis, TX
- CleanFiber’s locations in Washington and Texas are selected to receive $10 million each to establish two separate 60,000 square-foot production facilities produce an advanced form of cellulose insulation from recycled cardboard. The facilities, once operational, will produce enough advanced insulation to weatherize more than 20,000 homes a year and support 80 full time employees.
- TS Conductor — Erie, MI
- $28.2 million selection to establish U.S.-based manufacturing of High Voltage Direct Current (HVDC) conductors and other advanced conductors that enable a secure and resilient clean grid. The new factory will create 425 construction jobs and 162 operating jobs with wages above the local prevailing rate.
- Furno Materials Inc — Chicago, IL
- $20 million selection to construct a new circular, low carbon cement production facility. The facility will use recycled industrial waste materials as feedstock to make low-carbon Ordinary Portland Cement, reducing carbon intensity by 47%, and creating 80 total jobs with above average wages and benefits.
- Hempitecture Inc — Rogersville, TN
- $8.42 million selection to create an industrial fiber hemp processing and manufacturing facility produce high performing products, with a 60-80% reduced carbon intensity, for the building materials, packaging, and automotive industry. When completed, the facility will create 25 full time jobs 15% above prevailing hourly rate.
- Infinitum-Rockdale, TX
- $34 million selection to establish a manufacturing facility to produce heavy copper, high-powered printed circuit board (HP-PCB) stators, the key component of Infinitum’s high-efficiency axil-flux motors. This facility will be located in Rockdale, Texas and is expected to create 170 operating jobs and 125 construction jobs.
- MetOx International — Southeast, U.S.
- $80 million selection to establish Project Arch, an advanced superconductor manufacturing facility, critical to expanding grid capacity to enable accelerated deployment of renewable energy, electric vehicle charging infrastructure, hyperscale AI data centers, and large manufacturing loads. Project Arch will create 230 jobs, supporting economic revitalization in a coal community.
- Moment Energy Inc — Taylor, TX
- $20.3 million selection to establish the first UL1974 Certified manufacturing facility in the United States to repurpose EV batteries to produce safe, reliable, and affordable battery energy storage systems. The project will create 50 construction jobs and a total of 200 new jobs within their facility, which will produce an annual output of 1 GWh once fully operational.
- Mainspring Energy Inc — Coraopolis, PA
- $87 million selection to establish a state- of-the-art manufacturing facility near Pittsburgh to produce 1,000 linear generators that can run on any gaseous fuel, and change fuels without any hardware changes. The project will create 291 construction-related jobs, at least 80% of which will seek to be unionized. The facility will create 600 operations positions, offering above-average pay, benefits, and growth opportunities.
- RG Resource Technologies Inc — Lansing, MI
- $5 million selection to retrofit a manufacturing facility in Lansing to produce 120,000 units/yr production of their solar photovoltaic + thermal capture (PVT) system. Through this project, RG Resource Technologies plans to hire 160 workers in new full-time positions, with a goal that 64 of those positions will be filled from workers living in disadvantaged communities.
- Sparkz Inc. — Bridgeport, WV
- $9.8 million selection to create a first-of-its-kind battery-grade iron phosphate (FePO4) plant in the United States. As part of this project, Sparkz will be creating and retaining 75 high quality jobs, and has signed a neutrality agreement with the United Mine Workers of America (UMWA) Labor Union and will work with UMWA on providing training to coal workers.
- Terra CO2 Holdings — Magna, UT
- $52.6 million selection to establish a new manufacturing facility to produce an innovative high-performing Supplementary Cementitious Material (SCM), a 70% lower emission and cost-effective replacement for traditional Ordinary Portland Cement. This project will create 61 new jobs with wages and benefits above the 75th percentile compared to national wages, and will train and upskill up to 144 people from underrepresented populations.
- Urban Mining Industries — Indiantown, FL and Baltimore, MD
- $37 million selection to develop manufacturing plants that will convert recycled glass, most of which would have otherwise gone to landfill, into a ground glass pozzolan, which is used to replace up to 50% of carbon-intensive cement in concrete mixes, which can drastically reduce embodied emissions while increasing resistance to road salts and increasing reflective properties. The project will create 20 new skilled jobs with high paying hourly wages at each site.
Learn more about the projects selected for award negotiations here.
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