The Future of the IRA - Where to Find the Jobs
Over the past two weeks there has been a lot of discussion about the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) in the renewable energy and clean energy spaces. People (like me) with businesses in these industries, and who were depending on IRA funding to continue driving demand, have been questioning what the new administration will do. Some of the most rational thinkers in the renewable world have been suggesting the IRA money has really changed some hearts & minds in congress, and with money flowing to many districts in red states, it would be very unlikely for the IRA to be repealed completely. However, almost everyone agrees there will be some changes.
The chart above from Power Brief provides a really strong prediction of how it could go. The chart plots the individual sections of the IRA with the Y axis representing the political risk of the particular tax credit and the X axis representing the budgetary costs to the U.S. government for implementing the credit as it is currently written. For example, we see the Electric Vehicle tax credit plotted high in the red square showing that it has a high cost and it has high political risk with Republicans. Most industry experts agree the EV credit is very likely to be cut. The solar and wind ITCs and PTCs are lower risk, and hydrogen, nuclear, and carbon capture are solidly in the low risk/low cost category.
So if you are person looking to make a career change in the clean energy industry, where do you put your efforts? I think solar and wind are still great bets and nuclear and carbon capture make actually be getting boosts in funding, but those technologies are still not at scale so it may take a few years for job demand to kick in.
What We're Reading
_Maeve Allsup
US Department of Energy
Steve Hanley
Emma Penrod
Staff Picks!
Internships
I continue to research, curate, and expand the number of companies on the list. These established companies and startups are doing truly amazing things related to solar, wind, hydrogen, energy storage, geothermal, carbon capture, low carbon materials, transportation and many others. Let me know if you have companies you would like to see added!
