Clean energy industries are booming and powering Pennsylvania’s economy, with Donald Trump and his Big Oil allies being the only ones still trying to pull the plug. Since the passage of the clean energy plan, Pennsylvania has benefited from new clean energy projects that have invested $1.08 billion and created 2,881 jobs across the commonwealth, with many more to come. Not only are these companies creating new good-paying and unionized jobs, but some have invested in workforce training and skills development programs – building Pennsylvania’s workforce for the future. These jobs build on Pennsylvania’s established leadership on clean energy; the state is home to 145,153 clean energy jobs, according to the U.S. Department of Energy. 

Most Energy Jobs in Pennsylvania are in Clean Energy

• 51% of Pennsylvania’s energy jobs are in clean energy
• Clean energy industries employ more than 8 times more PA workers than the state’s gas industry

Pennsylvanians Want Clean Energy

• Pennsylvanians overwhelmingly support increasing clean energy in the state — including 84% of independents. Even 59% of Republicans support increasing clean energy in PA.
• Harris leads Trump in Pennsylvania by double digits when it comes to who voters think would be better at expanding clean energy (51% Harris vs 29% Trump).
• In Pennsylvania, only 3% of voters mention opposing fracking/more drilling as a top-of-mind negative for Harris.

While Donald Trump has made false claims about Vice President Harris threatening Pennsylvania 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 Pennsylvania energy jobs and production, Vice President Harris and President Biden are growing the clean energy economy.

Here are 10 clean energy projects in Pennsylvania 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 Pennsylvania Communities

1. Solar Energy in Clearfield County

Swift Current Energy built the Mineral Basin Solar Project in Girard Township. Since the project is located on former mine land, Swift Energy received a $90 million grant under the Clean Energy Demonstration Program on Current and Former Mine Land. The solar project repurposes former mine land and will generate enough electricity to power more than 70,000 homes. The project will generate more than $1.1 million in local tax revenue per year. Swift Current has also invested nearly $20 million in economic development to upskill and reskill workers in the region. 

2. $400 Million Investment in PA’s Clean Manufacturing Leadership

Earlier this year, Pennsylvania won a $400 million grant from the Biden-Harris administration to support good-paying jobs and clean, competitive manufacturing companies in the state. Through the Reducing Industrial Sector Emissions in Pennsylvania (RISE PA) initiative, funded by the Biden-Harris clean energy plan, the state will provide grants to companies that reduce their emissions through things like installing energy-efficient heat-recovery systems, or electrifying their operations. The program is expected to create 6,000 new good-paying jobs, and is supported by a wide coalition of Pennsylvania’s manufacturing firms, labor unions, environmental organizations, and community groups.

3. Volvo and Harley Davidson Expand Electric Vehicle Manufacturing in Macungie and York, PA

In July 2024, the Biden-Harris Administration announced funding to support the conversion of multiple shuttered or at-risk auto manufacturing facilities in Pennsylvania. The $208 million grant to Volvo and $89 million grant to Harley Davidson will help expand their manufacturing of heavy-duty electric trucks and electric motorcycles respectively. Their facilities in Macungie and York will now have a bright future in manufacturing cheaper, cleaner vehicles and are projected to create hundreds more union jobs.

4. Cost-Cutting Solar Energy for PA Schools

Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro is, with support from the Biden-Harris administration, investing in solar projects that will create good-paying jobs and cut energy costs with locally-produced energy for PA’s schools. Under Shapiro’s leadership, the state legislature recently invested $25 million in this initiative. And the Biden-Harris clean energy plan is supporting the program with tax incentives made newly available to state agencies and school districts that cut at least 30% off of the cost of each project, and with potential additional federal financing support from the Department of Energy.

5. Wind Energy in Meyersdale, PA

Coal mining was once a top industry in Meyersdale. Now, Meyersdale is being revitalized by the wind power industry. Exus Renewables invested $200 million to upgrade the nacelles and blades on the Twin Ridges Wind Farm’s existing towers, creating 150 union construction jobs and eight permanent service and maintenance jobs. Exus indicated the project would directly invest $7.5 million into the local economy through procurement from local suppliers and provide $100 million to the community through taxes and land payments. 

6. Clean Hydropower Manufacturing in York, PA

As manufacturing continues to grow steadily, Voith Hydro announced it would expand its York factory, where it manufactures machine components for hydropower facilities. The project supported the retention of 100 skilled and apprentice workers from the IAMAW union workforce and created several additional positions for the operation and maintenance of the new equipment. The project construction draws from local construction firms and other small and local businesses for construction services and materials.

7. PA’s Largest Solar Project Powering the University of Pennsylvania and its Medical Centers

All of the energy produced by Pennsylvania’s largest solar installation–The Great Cove Solar Project developed by AES corporation–is being purchased by the University of Pennsylvania campus in Philadelphia and the University of Pennsylvania Health System, which operates six medical facilities in Pennsylvania and New Jersey. Since December 2023, Great Cove has been generating 220 megawatts of electricity from two Franklin and Fulton Counties sites. The project, spanning 1,775 acres of former farmland in central Pennsylvania, is expected to generate $17 million in new tax revenue for the two counties over its lifetime, more than two-thirds of which will fund local schools. It also advances the University of Pennsylvania’s goal of becoming 100% carbon neutral in the next 18 years. 

8. Farmers Across PA Benefit from Solar Investment

Farmers across Pennsylvania are taking advantage of a new USDA program, enabled by the Biden-Harris clean energy plan, that provides grants to purchase and install solar projects. Projects already completed in PA, including one in Waynesboro, have brought some farmers’ energy bills down to $0 a year – giving PA’s local farmers breathing room and money back in their pockets to invest in the growth of their business. 

9. Transformative Investments to Address Legacy of Pollution

Since the passage of the Biden-Harris administration’s clean energy plan, over 200 orphaned oil and gas wells have been plugged across Pennsylvania, which is more than the previous 9 years combined. And with over $100 million in federal investment to clean up orphaned oil and gas wells, the state is creating good-paying union jobs, catalyzing economic growth and revitalization, and reducing environmental and public health impacts from harmful methane leaks.

10. Clean Steel and Union Jobs in Lyndora, PA 

Cleveland-Cliffs plans to use up to $75 million from the Biden-Harris administration’s clean energy plan to electrify a furnace in a one-of-a-kind steel facility located in Lyndora, Pennsylvania. With this funding, Cleveland-Cliffs will be able to sustain 1,000+ union jobs at their Butler Works facility, and they estimate the installation of the electric furnace will reduce greenhouse gasses by 100% and improve local air quality. 

Source Data: Atlas Public Policy