“The domestic manufacturing incentives in the Inflation Reduction Act are essential to strengthen America’s clean energy supply chain. We commend the Administration for its thoughtful engagement in response to issues raised by the industry since last May’s initial proposal. The clean energy industry needs durable, clear, and workable guidance to accelerate clean energy deployment, create new jobs for American workers, and increase U.S. energy security. Today’s guidance release is an important step toward those goals.”

The Biden Administration also announced today two changes to the Section 201 tariffs: raising the quota for tariff-free solar cell imports for the benefit of domestic solar module manufacturers and an end to the tariff exemption for imported bifacial solar panels.

“ACP and its members are working hard to build a strong domestic clean energy supply chain. While we appreciate the intent of today’s 201 announcements, the whiplash caused by constantly changing regulatory policy is bad for business certainty and will have harmful market impacts. We will continue to work with the administration to ensure the industry has the necessary regulatory certainty to support a growing American clean energy supply chain.”

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“Today’s decision recognizes the value of battery energy storage and its importance to the reliability of our electric grid. As energy demand grows, battery energy storage is lowering costs for American families and businesses. Moreover, this emerging industry is building new manufacturing facilities and bringing thousands of jobs to communities across the United States.������

“Newly enacted tax credits for energy storage, along with U.S. Department of Energy programs supporting the ramp up of domestic manufacturing, will continue to be critical to America’s energy dominance.”����

“Today’s announcement is an important step in building out America’s electric grid for a clean, affordable, and reliable energy future. We commend all those at FERC who have helped reach this important milestone in the development of the transmission infrastructure our nation needs—but it cannot be the finish line.

“FERC has acknowledged the multiple benefits that transmission provides and has set out a process to ensure that all beneficiaries help to fund projects that reduce customer rates and keep the lights on. If implemented effectively, this will lead to much-needed expansion in transmission capacity on the U.S. grid. At the same time, there are also areas in the rule to build upon, especially with regard to the integration of new resources and enabling more transmission between regions.

“With demand for electricity growing, extreme weather becoming more common, and America’s power grid getting older and struggling to keep pace with the need for transmission expansion, the time to act is now.”

MINNEAPOLIS, MN (May 7, 2024) – In an impressive start to the year, the 91������ȫ Association (ACP) revealed that the U.S. utility-scale solar, wind, and storage sectors added a combined 5,585 megawatts (MW) of new capacity in the first quarter of 2024, marking an increase of 28% compared to installations in the same period a year ago. These additions are enough to power 1 million homes with clean energy.��

ACP’s new Clean Power Quarterly Market Report | Q1 2024 finds the industry also reached significant milestones in the first quarter: utility-scale solar surpassed 100 gigawatts (GW) of installed capacity, and the first offshore wind project in federal waters began supplying 132 MW of clean, reliable power to the grid.����

“The first quarter of 2024 set the pace for the year, underscoring both an industry that continues to break barriers and the increasing demand for clean energy solutions,” said John Hensley, ACP’s VP of Markets and Policy Analysis. “Crossing the 100 GW milestone for solar, launching groundbreaking projects like South Fork Wind, and a record-setting pace of new contracts for clean energy are clear indicators of the public’s demand to bolster the grid with domestic, reliable and affordable clean energy.”��

Key highlights from the Q1 2024 report include:��

• Utility-Scale Solar Hits Major Milestone: For the first time, operating utility-scale solar capacity surpassed 100 GW.
  • It took 18 years to build the first 50 GW of U.S. solar capacity, but just four years to double to 100 GW.
  • A substantial 4,557 MW of new solar capacity was added in Q1 2024, contributing to the U.S. climbing to over 100,547 MW of installed utility-scale solar.
  • Nearly 40% of the newly installed solar in Q1 came online in Florida. 
• Historic Offshore Wind Deployment: The commissioning of the South Fork Wind project in March, the first large-scale offshore wind initiative in federal waters, added 132 MW of capacity off the coast of New York. 
• Significant Increase in Clean Power Procurement: Clean power procurement saw a robust 52% increase from Q1 2023, with 7,773 MW of new Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs) as utilities and corporate buyers pursue renewables to power their businesses. This surge reflects growing confidence and demand for clean energy.

The clean energy future keeps getting brighter, with the clean power pipeline expanding to nearly 175 GW—the highest amount on record. The robust expansion of the pipeline can be attributed to battery storage and solar, which have grown at an average rate of 11% and 4% per quarter since the second quarter of 2022.��

While energy storage deployments were flat compared to the same period in the previous year, the pipeline for new storage projects increased by 61% year-over-year to 31.6 GW in the near-term pipeline, indicating strong future growth.��

The land-based wind market, despite a lackluster quarter, also saw its project pipeline expand, increasing 37% year-over-year to 13.7 GW. Wyoming and New Mexico are leading the charge for the technology, supplanting long-time market leader Texas.��

U.S. clean power capacity now stands at 269,878 MW—enough to power more than 68 million American homes.��

Read more about today’s clean energy industry trends in the Clean Power Quarterly Market Report | Q1 2024.��

Partnership spotlights the clean energy industry’s commitment to the fast-growing transferable tax credit market

New York, NY / Washington, DC (May 2, 2024) — Today, the 91������ȫ Association (ACP) announced a new partnership with sustainable finance technology company to make clean energy tax credit transfers more accessible to the clean energy industry. Starting today, ACP’s 800+ member companies will be able to access discounted transaction fees on Crux’s platform.��

Crux is changing the way clean energy projects are financed in the United States, starting with transactions for the new transferable clean energy tax credits created by the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA). The new transferable tax equity market allows, for the first time, clean energy developers and manufacturers to sell their tax credits to third parties for cash—creating a powerful market mechanism to expand access to capital for clean energy infrastructure, innovative technologies, and advanced manufacturing.��

“Our partnership with Crux will help catalyze accessible funding alternatives for clean energy,” said Jason Grumet, ACP’s Chief Executive Officer. “By simplifying the ability to monetize tax credits, the industry can invest more effectively and flexibly, bringing more projects, jobs, and investment to communities across the U.S. This collaboration underscores ACP’s commitment to leading innovative solutions that drive the industry forward.”��

This partnership provides ACP members with discounts on transferable tax credits transaction fees as well as access to programming and insights developed by Crux—such as PowerCasts, white papers, reports, and more—throughout the year.��

“Capitalizing on the tremendous growth opportunity for our clean energy sector and maximizing the tax incentives provided by the IRA requires expanding the tax equity investor base,” said Susan Nickey, ACP Board Chair and Chief Client Officer at HASI. “Partnering with Crux provides the industry with critical tools, data, and pricing transparency to build a robust and efficient market for tax credit transfer transactions. I am thrilled to see ACP members gain access to key resources to help accelerate the deployment of clean energy solutions.”��

The partnership will launch officially at CLEANPOWER 2024, ACP’s premier conference which brings policy leaders, industry experts, and major players together for a week of learning, networking, and innovation. At the event, which kicks off May 6 in Minneapolis, Crux CEO and co-founder Alfred Johnson will be participating in daily fireside chats on the PowerCasts stage designed to educate members and attendees on clean energy tax credits.������

“Crux is thrilled to partner with the 91������ȫ Association to offer its organization of the most prominent clean energy policy leaders, industry experts, and companies access to our powerful technology and large network of tax credit buyers,” said Alfred Johnson, CEO and co-founder of Crux. “We’re looking forward to helping ACP members efficiently finance their clean energy projects in the future.”

Crux’s partnership with ACP aims to boost the emerging transferable tax equity market, estimated to have attracted $7-9 billion in its first year (according to a published in January). To date, Crux has facilitated diverse technology transactions across solar, standalone storage, microgrids, bioenergy and renewable natural gas, and advanced manufacturing, and currently has more than $8 billion in credits available on its platform.��

ACP members can get started at cleanpower.org/crux.��

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About Crux

Crux is a sustainable finance technology company changing the way clean energy and decarbonization projects are financed in the U.S. The company’s first offering is the ecosystem for buyers, sellers, and intermediaries to transact and manage transferable tax credits. Crux is co-founded by Alfred Johnson and Allen Kramer, who previously founded and exited a successful marketplace software company, Mobilize. Rob Parker serves as Chief Commercial Officer and brings 20+ years of experience in the power industry, most recently serving as CFO at REV Renewables. Since its launch in 2023, Crux has raised over $27 million in funding from venture capital and strategic investors and built a world-class team that merges expertise from energy, finance, government, and technology to power the clean energy transition. For more information, visit .����

Media Contact
press@cruxclimate.com

“There’s broad agreement, across industries and political aisles, that it simply takes too long to build critical infrastructure in the United States. Clean energy generation and transmission projects can sit in limbo for a decade, and it regularly takes longer to permit a project than it does to build it.

“Today’s action is a step toward improving our nation’s permitting processes, but much work remains to achieve the permitting goals set forth in the Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2023.

“Congress must redouble its effort to establish durable, predictable, and efficient permitting processes. America has the industrial capability and economic strength to power our growing economy and safeguard our environment. Clean energy innovation and investment is surging. Our public decision-making processes need to keep up.”

In the letter, the groups highlight how upgrading and expanding the nation’s transmission network has taken on new immediacy.

“For the first time in two decades, demand for electricity is rising,” the groups explain. “Capacity exists to support this increasing demand and with the right investments can be brought online quickly.”

The groups underscore the national security benefits of a modernized transmission system, noting reports of a sharp uptick in direct cyber and physical attacks on the grid.

The letter signatories ask Congress to consider specific funding requests for DOE’s Grid Deployment Office, Office of Electricity, and Loan Programs Office, along with additional borrowing authority for the Transmission Facilitation Program. Such funding “is critical to unleashing domestic clean energy resources, safeguarding against emerging threats, catalyzing billions in private capital investment, creating thousands of good-paying jobs, and delivering low-cost energy to families and businesses,” the groups write.

The signatories on the letter include Advanced Energy United, Advanced Power Alliance, Advancing Modern Powerlines (AMP) Coalition, Alliance for Clean Energy New York, 91������ȫ Association, American Council on Renewable Energy, Berkshire Hathaway Energy, Business Council for Sustainable Energy, Ceres, Clean Energy Buyers Association, Clean Grid Alliance, Conservative Energy Network, CTC Global, EarthGrid, Grid Action, Grid United, Hannon Armstrong Sustainable Infrastructure, Innergex, International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local Unit 1245, Interwest Energy Alliance, Invenergy LLC, League of Conservation Voters, Longroad Energy, MAREC Action, National Electrical Manufacturers Association, National Wildlife

Federation, Natural Resources Defense Council, NextEra Energy Transmission, Niskanen Center, Oceantic Network, Onward Energy, Pattern Energy, RENEW Northeast, Renewable Northwest, Sierra Club, Solar Energy Industries Association, Sol Systems, Southern Renewable Energy Association, SouthWestern Power Group, Third Way, VEIR, and Working for Advanced Transmission Technologies (WATT) Coalition.

Click here to download a copy of the coalition letter.

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ABOUT ACORE:

For over 20 years, the American Council on Renewable Energy (ACORE) has been the nation’s leading voice on the issues most essential to renewable energy expansion. ACORE unites finance, policy, and technology to accelerate the transition to a renewable energy economy. For more information, please visit www.acore.org.

ABOUT ADVANCED ENERGY UNITED

Advanced Energy United educates, engages, and advocates for policies that allow our member companies to compete to repower our economy with 100% clean energy. We work with decision makers at every level of government as well as regulators of energy markets to achieve this goal. The businesses we represent are lowering consumer costs, creating millions of new jobs, and providing the full range of clean, efficient, and reliable energy and transportation solutions. Together, we are united in our mission to accelerate the transition to 100% clean energy in the United States. Advanced Energy United is online at AdvancedEnergyUnited.org and @AdvEnergyUnited.

MEDIA CONTACTS

Alex Hobson, ACORE’s Senior Vice President of Communications, hobson@acore.org, (202) 830-3592

Adam Winer, United’s Director of Communications, awiner@advancedenergyunited.org, (202) 391-0884

“We commend BOEM for advancing plans to auction offshore wind energy leases off the Oregon coast and in the Gulf of Maine. The auctions announced today have the potential to generate more than 18 gigawatts of offshore wind energy, enough to power more than six million homes in the Pacific Northwest and New England. Providing new lease areas for offshore wind power development creates the pathway to cleaner power, more jobs, and a stronger and more reliable electric grid.”

“Today’s announcements reinforce the urgent need to expand and strengthen our nation’s electric grid. Our nation’s economic, security, and climate goals all hinge on the timely permitting, siting, and construction of large high-voltage transmission projects.

“As we work to build new transmission, we must also maximize the capacity and efficiency of the current grid. The 91������ȫ Association applauds the White House’s goal of upgrading 100,000 miles of transmission lines with advanced conductors and grid-enhancing technologies.

“ACP looks forward to working with federal agencies and member companies to ensure that qualifying high-voltage, high-value projects can take full advantage of the more coordinated and efficient permitting process. It’s also essential that Congress builds upon these efforts with meaningful permitting reform that further improves the process for building high-impact transmission lines.”

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