The election is inserting political risk into NC’s clean energy economy | Opinion
After years working to shape federal energy policy as congressional aides in Washington D.C., we packed up, moved to the Triangle and launched a firm that advises start-ups, corporations, nonprofits and universities about reaching their climate and clean energy goals.
As part of our work, we recently published a white paper at Duke University on the concept of “tax chaining,” which allows businesses to unlock more opportunities for clean energy projects of every size. Recent laws like the Inflation Reduction Act have created numerous opportunities for businesses in North Carolina to take more risks, knowing federal policy was helpful in those efforts.
But what we have heard around the state — and nation — in recent months is a hesitancy to invest due to political risk, an issue more often associated with investing in developing countries. Such concerns are understandable with Donald Trump calling climate change a “hoax” and promising to unravel the Inflation Reduction Act’s clean energy tax credits, while the conservative policy playbook known as Project 2025 would repeal the law altogether.
We work with organizations including non-profits rebuilding in Watauga County after Hurricane Helene; a company installing clean energy systems near Wilmington, and an Alamance County start-up developing technology to remove harmful PFAS or “forever chemicals” from water in Chatham and Wake counties.
We see firsthand how our clients are benefiting from recent federal laws that provide clean energy tax credits and support more robust domestic supply chains, creating once-in-a-generation opportunity for new investment and growth in American manufacturing and innovation.
But as businesses await election results and policy certainty, they have been “de-risking” by pausing projects, slowing things down, and simply waiting. It is difficult to commit to build a manufacturing facility that is supposed to deliver products for decades if the next four years is filled with volatile markets due to political risk. That it is no way to grow a business or the economy.
The experience of these businesses shows how North Carolina faces a choice this fall about going backward or forward. A recent report estimated that nine large-scale clean energy projects announced in the first year after the Inflation Reduction Act passage will result in 24,600 construction jobs and 5,400 permanent jobs, adding billions of dollars to the state’s GDP. Vice President Harris has made clear her administration would build on the law’s success, providing policy certainty for the clean energy sector and the more than 100,000 North Carolinians working in it.
Building on legislation like the Inflation Reduction Act, the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act and the CHIPS and Science Act would allow companies in the state to fully invest in the future while minimizing unnecessary political risk. Business leaders don’t want four years of chaotic policy making.
Eric likes to say he lived in Washington for 18 years and never met the sitting president then moved to North Carolina and took a selfie with President Biden within five months. That moment occurred when Biden was visiting Durham’s Wolfspeed on the first stop on his 2023 manufacturing tour. The chipmaker landed a $750 million CHIPS and Science Act grant this month to expand a Siler City plant. The grant was one way the current White House has helped the clean energy economy’s progress in North Carolina.
The foundation for what made North Carolina and the Triangle — an attractive place for us to launch a business — goes back decades. Governor Terry Sanford convinced President John Kennedy to expand the Research Triangle Park and brokered a deal to bring the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences to the area.
It is hard to imagine how different our state would look today if the progress to establish the RTP had been reversed by succeeding lawmakers. As you go to the ballot box this fall, it is worth keeping in mind that recent progress made to create clean energy jobs and tackle the climate crisis may similarly hang in the balance.
A former chief of staff to a Congress member, Clinton Britt founded Grove Climate Group in 2021 and is its president. Eric Fins, a former deputy staff director of a U.S. House committee on climate change, became Grove Climate VP in 2023.
This story was originally published November 1, 2024 at 5:00 AM with the headline "The election is inserting political risk into NC’s clean energy economy | Opinion."