Clean energy industries are booming and powering North Carolina’s economic growth, with Donald Trump, Mark Robinson, and their Big Oil allies still trying to pull the plug. Since the passage of the clean energy plan, North Carolina has benefited from new clean energy projects that have invested $19.09 billion and announced 11,850 jobs across the state, with many more to come. North Carolina ranks fourth in the nation for new clean energy investments following the passage of the clean energy plan. Not only are these companies creating new good-paying and unionized jobs, but some have invested in workforce training and skills development programs – building North Carolina’s workforce for the future. These jobs build on North Carolina’s established leadership on clean energy; the state is home to 135,495 clean energy jobs, according to the U.S. Department of Energy, and ranks first in the nation for rural clean energy jobs. 

Most Energy Jobs in North Carolina are in Clean Energy

• 60% of North Carolina’s energy jobs are in clean energy

North Carolinians Want Clean Energy

• 67% of North Carolina voters say that climate change and clean energy will be important issues in their vote for President.
• North Carolina voters see an overwhelming positive impact of increasing clean energy on clean air and water (76%), the availability of good-paying jobs (63%), and North Carolina’s economy (61%). Among Latino voters, 50% already see an increase in clean energy jobs in the state.
• VP Harris leads Trump by +24 percentage points in battleground states of NC and GA on the issue of expanding clean energy (Harris 53% v Trump 29%) and climate change (Harris 52% v Trump 28%).

While Donald Trump has made false claims about Vice President Harris threatening energy jobs and production, there is no dispute that Trump is waging a war against clean energy nationwide as part of the “deal” he proposed to the oil executives funding his campaign. In addition to promising to repeal the clean energy investments in the Inflation Reduction Act, which he consistently derides as a “scam,” he speaks obsessively about destroying the wind, solar, and electric vehicle industries, which would decimate domestic supply chains and raise costs for American families. While Trump poses an immediate threat to North Carolina energy jobs and production, Vice President Harris and President Biden are growing the clean energy economy.

Here are 10 clean energy projects in North Carolina that are supported by the Biden-Harris administration – and that are threatened by Donald Trump, JD Vance and their radical anti-clean energy agenda.

Ten Clean Energy Projects That Are Revitalizing North Carolina Communities

1. Toyota Is Revitalizing Manufacturing In Randolph County

New clean energy investments are creating long-term economic opportunities in Randolph Country, where Toyota has expanded its plans for a battery plant. In August 2022, the company announced an additional $2.5 billion investment in the facility, and in October 2023, said it would invest a further $8 billion in the plant. These new waves of investment after the passage of the Inflation Reduction Act are creating an additional 3,350 jobs at the plant, nearly twice the number of jobs Toyota estimated would be created at the plant when it was first announced in 2021. The new jobs will have starting pay between $18 and $42 an hour, higher than the county’s average wage. Toyota plans to hire 700 staff by the end of 2024.

2. Siemens Manufacturing Energy Transmission Infrastructure In Charlotte And Wendell

In February 2024, Siemens announced it would add 559 jobs in Charlotte and Wendell to manufacture large power transformers. The company’s $149.8 million investment will establish the first Large Power Transformers manufacturing facility in the U.S. Average wages at both facilities will be higher than their respective county’s average wage.

3. Kempower Is Building Electric Car Chargers In Durham

In February 2023, Kempower announced a $41 million investment in a new electric vehicle (EV) charging station factory in Durham, North Carolina. The investment is set to create more than 300 jobs, with Kempower looking to create a total of 300 jobs within five years. Kempower opened the facility in November 2023.

4. Cost-Cutting Home Energy Rebates for NC Homeowners

North Carolina received over $209 million for consumer home energy rebate programs, which will help low-income households save an average of 52% on their home energy bills. 

5. Clean Air for NC Schoolchildren With New Electric School Buses

Nineteen North Carolina school districts received over $31 million ​​from the EPA’s Clean School Bus Rebate Program to purchase low- and zero-emission school buses. In addition, 15 North Carolina school districts received over $57.3 million in funding through the first Clean School Bus Program Grants Competition.

6. New Electric Vehicle Infrastructure In Rutherford County

In Rutherford County, two rural towns are working together to implement more than $20 million of grant funding from the Biden-Harris clean energy plan. The towns of Spindale, and Rutherford will use this funding, the most ever invested into infrastructure in their towns, to connect their towns, improve quality of life, and install both bus stops and EV charging stations. 

7. Advanced Battery Manufacturing In Edgecombe 

Thanks to the incentives in the Biden-Harris clean energy plan, Natron Energy — a manufacturer of sodium-ion batteries — plans to invest $1.4 billion into a battery plant in EdgecombeCounty and is expected to employ more than 1,000 people.

8. Reduced Energy Bills In NC With Solar Energy 

EnergizeNC received $156 million from the EPA, made possible by the Biden-Harris clean energy plan, to invest in solar for low-income and disadvantaged communities in the state. The grant is expected to create thousands of jobs in the state, and could save households an average of $400 a year. 

9. New Training Program Prepares NC Workers For Jobs In Fast-Growing Renewable Energy Sector

North Carolina has one of the nation’s fastest-growing renewable energy sectors, with jobs expected to grow by 50% by 2030. And thanks to a federal grant from the Biden-Harris administration, a new workforce training program will help prepare NC workers to fill these jobs. The Renewable Energy Workforce Investments in Natural Resources and Design (REWIND) initiative will provide undergraduate students and other participants from historically underserved and underrepresented groups with training, research, internships and apprenticeships.  

10. NC Farms And Rural Businesses Benefit From New Investments And Lower Energy Costs

In March 2024 the Biden-Harris administration announced new investments in projects that will cut energy costs, generate new income, and create jobs for farmers, ranchers, agricultural producers and rural small businesses in the Tar Heel State. This includes 12 projects across 10 counties. For example, one poultry farm in Alexander County is investing in a solar array that will save nearly $10,000 per year on its operations.