Biden offers $450M for clean energy projects at coal mines

The Biden administration is making $450 million available for solar farms and other clean energy projects at the site of current or former coal mines

As many as five projects nationwide will be funded through the 2021 infrastructure law, with at least two projects set aside for solar farms, the White House said Tuesday.

The White House also said it will allow developers of clean energy projects to take advantage of billions of dollars in new bonuses being offered in addition to investment and production tax credits available through the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act. The bonuses will "incentivize more clean energy investment in energy communities, particularly coal communities,'' that have been hurt by a decade-plus decline in U.S. coal production, the White House said.

The actions are among steps the Biden administration is taking as the Democratic president moves to convert the U.S. economy to renewable energy such as wind and solar power, while turning away from coal and other fossil fuels that produce planet-warming greenhouse gas emissions.

The projects are modeled on a site Biden visited last summer, where a former coal-fired power plant in Massachusetts is shifting to offshore wind power. Biden highlighted the former Brayton Point power plant in Somerset, Massachusetts

“It's very clear that ... the workers who powered the last century of industry and innovation can power the next one,'' said Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm, whose agency will oversee the new grant program.

Former mining areas in Appalachia and other parts of the country have long had the infrastructure, workforce, expertise and “can-do attitude” to produce energy, Granholm told reporters on Monday.

Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said the new plan provides a bonus investment credit of up to 10% for clean energy production in struggling energy communities. Solar farm operators "can get an extra dime on the dollar for your investment in a new facility,'' she said Tuesday.

To take full advantage of the bonus, developers must pay workers prevailing wages and use a sufficient proportion of apprentices on the job, Yellen said. “These provisions will ensure that workers in energy communities reap the benefits of the clean energy economy they are helping to build,'' she said.





https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/wireStory/biden-offers-450m-clean-energy-projects-coal-mines-98343359