Energy & Environment — Biden puts $3 billion toward electric car batteries

by Rachel Frazin and Zack Budryk - 05/02/22 6:38 PM ET

A grant program under the bipartisan infrastructure law puts $3 billion toward electric vehicle battery development. Also, a bipartisan group of senators wants a Commerce Department probe of solar companies wrapped up, and a vulnerable Democratic senator says she’s pressuring the Biden administration on gas prices.

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Officials announce $3B for EV battery manufacturing

The Department of Energy on Monday announced a $3.16 billion grant program to aid domestic manufacturing of electric vehicle batteries.

The funding, provided through the bipartisan infrastructure law, comes amid research projecting increased demand for electric vehicles and lithium ion batteries. Research from the Federal Consortium for Advanced Batteries indicates the lithium battery market will grow by a factor of 5 to 10 within the next 10 years.

What they’re saying: “Positioning the United States front and center in meeting the growing demand for advanced batteries is how we boost our competitiveness and electrify our transportation system,” Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm said in a statement.

“President Biden’s historic investment in battery production and recycling will give our domestic supply chain the jolt it needs to become more secure and less reliant on other nations — strengthening our clean energy economy, creating good paying jobs, and decarbonizing the transportation sector,” she said.

The announcement comes the month after President Biden invoked the Defense Production Act to step up mining of rare earth metals used in the production of batteries, and Brian Deese, director of the White House Economic Council, described that action as “complementary support” to the grant program on a press call Monday.

The background: The Biden administration has made a broader push for wider proliferation of electric vehicles and EV infrastructure as gas prices increase and the administration seeks to halve carbon emissions by the end of the decade.

Since the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the administration has also framed its domestic moves on renewable energy as an engine for both job creation and reducing Russian President Vladimir Putin’s leverage over international energy supplies.

“With today’s announcement, over $3 billion, we will ensure that the United States is not just the world leader in making batteries, but in innovating the advanced battery technologies that we need in the future and securing the supply chain so we can be less vulnerable to global supply disruptions and making this industry sustainable by recycling materials and using cleaner manufacturing processes,” White House climate adviser Gina McCarthy said on the call.

Senators urge Biden to wrap up solar power probe

A bipartisan group of senators is calling on President Biden to conclude an investigation into solar panel imports as quickly as possible.

The Commerce Department announced an investigation in March into solar panel components manufactured in Malaysia, Cambodia, Vietnam and Thailand to determine whether they are part of an attempt by Chinese companies to circumvent tariffs. The investigation was initiated in response to a petition from California-based solar manufacturer Auxin Solar.

In a letter released Monday, led by Sen. Jacky Rosen (D-Nev.), senators note projections by the solar industry that the investigation could cost jobs as well as reduce U.S. solar capacity. The Solar Energy Industry Association (SEIA), the primary solar trade group, has already reduced its installation projections by half in response to the probe.

What’s at stake? SEIA President and CEO Abigail Ross Hopper said in a statement last week that if tariffs are imposed, 100,000 American solar jobs could be instantly lost, and it would dash Biden’s clean energy efforts.

“Initiation of this investigation is already causing massive disruption in the solar industry, and it will severely harm American solar businesses and workers and increase costs for American families as long as it continues,” the Monday letter states.

“We strongly urge your administration to swiftly review the case and make an expedited preliminary determination. Such a determination should carefully consider the significant policy ramifications and reject the petitioner’s request for retroactivity.”

Rosen and other senators have repeatedly raised concerns about the probe’s economic impact, as well as its potential detriment to the Biden administration’s own renewable energy targets.

Hassan ‘pushing’ Biden over gas prices in new ad

Democratic Sen. Maggie Hassan (N.H.), who is facing a tough reelection fight in November, is running an ad on efforts to combat high gasoline prices.

In the 30-second spot, the lawmaker touts her own effort on the issue and makes a point to say she is pushing her own party, including President Biden, to act.

“I am taking on members of my own party to push a gas tax holiday and I am pushing Joe Biden to release more of our oil reserves. That’s how we lower costs and get through these times,” the senator says.

The ad, Hassan’s first of 2022, shows that Democrats see the issue of gasoline prices as one of increasing importance ahead of the midterms.

It follows efforts by Hassan and other vulnerable Democrats like Sen. Mark Kelly (Ariz.) to push a suspension of the federal gasoline tax — something that’s unlikely to succeed amid skepticism from members of both parties.

Other vulnerable Democrats are also leaning into the issue, with Rep. Sharice Davids (D-Kan.) also targeting a Republican challenger over opposition to the gas tax pause.

Meanwhile, Democratic leadership is taking a somewhat different approach on the issue. Majority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) and Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said last week that they will push legislation to expand the powers of the Federal Trade Commission and state attorneys general to probe high prices.