This Week in Climate & Clean Energy Wins: Week of 11/4

See our state by state breakdown here.

This week’s third quarter earnings reports showed the breakneck speed of our economy’s transformation since passage of the climate law. Crediting the new law, utility executives in Texas, Michigan, and Arizona announced clean energy expansions that will save their customers hundreds of millions of dollars in energy costs. These savings were augmented by the Biden administration’s announcement of $13 billion in funding to lower home heating costs by accelerating the deployment of modern, more efficient electric appliances and home heating and cooling systems. Companies like Sunrun reported record earnings powered by a massive increase in sales, with a 25% increase projected for Sunrun, 36% for Hyundai and Kia, and a 227% increase in battery storage installations. The Inflation Reduction Act is also powering a reshoring revolution—a new Deloitte report found that 62% of manufacturing companies have begun reshoring, partly due to the climate law’s domestic manufacturing incentives.

Utilities announced hundreds of millions in savings to consumers as a result of Inflation Reduction Act incentives for clean energy.

• Xcel to retire Texas coal-fired power plant four years early, speeding up company-wide exit from coal to 2030. [Utility Dive, 11/1/2022]
  • The company credited the Inflation Reduction Act with lowering their levelized cost of  solar projects by 25% to 40% and wind projects by 50% to 60%.
  • The plan will accelerate the utility’s timeline for getting off coal by three years.
  • The move will save their customers in Texas and New Mexico more than $70 million.
• Michigan utility officials say Inflation Reduction Act will lower costs for consumers and drive investment in renewable energy [Michigan Radio, 10/30/2022]

• Consumers Energy President Garrick Rochow said the Inflation Reduction Act’s wind and solar tax credits lower costs by $60 million and provide economic certainty necessary for the company to directly own solar energy.
• DTE President and CEO Jerry Norcia also said the IRA will lower investment costs for renewable energy.
• Consumers Energy President and CEO Garrick Rochow said “The recently passed Inflation Reduction Act is another catalyst for our clean energy transformation, supporting deployment of renewables and lowering costs for our customers. We see a lot of benefits in this new legislation… “All of this helps our customers with more savings. It supports our commitment to grow Michigan. It drives the transformation to clean energy and our growing voluntary green pricing program. Bottom line, this legislation is a great tailwind across the board.”
• Arizona utility Salt River Project to increase battery storage by more than 50%. [AZ Family, 10/27/2022]
  • Salt River Project will increase total battery storage by 340 megawatts by summer 2024, enough to power 76,000 homes for four hours.

A new report showed a massive increase in manufacturing reshoring in 2022 driven in part by Inflation Reduction Act incentives. [Bloomberg, 11/2/2022]

• According to a report from Deloitte, 62% of surveyed manufacturers started reshoring or near-shorting production capabilities. The survey included 305 transportation and manufacturing executives.
• American firms are expected to reshore almost 350,000 jobs in 2022 — an increase of 25% from 260,000 in 2021.
• Deloitte attributed part of the change to the Inflation Reduction Act’s domestic manufacturing incentives, saying it was one of the conditions for the reshoring movement “to finally have legs.”

Clean energy companies showed high earnings and massive sales increases in the third quarter.

• Panasonic accelerated their schedule to break ground on their Kansas EV battery factory. [Electrive.com, 10/31/2022]
• Hyundai, Kia recorded October hybrid vehicle sales 36% higher than last year. [Korea Economic Daily, 11/2/2022]
• Sunrun’s earnings blew past expectations.[Bloomberg, 11/3/2022]
  • Sunrun reported revenue of $631.9 million in the third quarter.
  • The residential solar company forecasts installation growth of 25% this year. 
• Battery storage installations increased by a record 227% from July to September. [Energy Storage News, 11/3/2022]
  • 17 new battery storage projects were commissioned in Q3, adding 1,195 MW.
• Google signed a deal for 942 megawatts of Texas solar energy as part of its goal to eliminate emissions from operations. [Bloomberg, 11/1/2022]
  • The electricity this will generate could power over 700,000 homes.

The Biden administration announced billions in funding for clean energy projects to lower heating costs, create jobs in underserved areas, and deliver environmental justice to marginalized communities. [WHNBC, 11/2/22]

• Vice President Harris announced $13 billion in funding for home electrification efforts to lower home heating bills.
  • The announcement included  $4.5 billion from the Department of Health and Human Services in assistance to help cut heating costs for the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP)
  • It also included $9 billion in funding from the Inflation Reduction Act to support up to 1.6 million households nationwide in upgrading their homes to decrease energy bills. This will be separated into two rebate programs: one for whole home energy efficiency retrofits and another for highly efficient and electric home appliances
• Treasury Department advanced the community input process for implementation of the Inflation Reduction Act’s tax provisions. [Department of the Treasury press release, 11/3/2022]
• Biden-Harris Administration Announced $53 Million for 132 Community Air Pollution Monitoring Projects Across the Nation, especially targeting overburdened and marginalized communities. [EPA press release, 11/3/2022]
• Biden-Harris Administration announced $250 million investment from Inflation Reduction Act for domestic heat pump manufacturing. [Department of Energy press release, 11/2/2022]
• DOE Announced $35 Million to deploy clean energy on tribal lands and power unelectrified tribal buildings. [Department of Energy press release, 11/1/2022]
• Biden-Harris administration announced more than $140 million to create good-paying union jobs, cleaning up abandoned coal mine lands in West Virginia. [Department of the Interior press release, 10/31/2022]

UAE and U.S. agreed to spur $100 billion in clean energy projects. [Reuters, 11/1/2022]

• The UAE and the U.S. agreed to provide technical, project management, and funding assistance for commercially available and environmentally sustainable energy projects in other countries.