At least 24 factories have been set up in the United States to produce electric cars that qualify for the credit, including a Ford plant making plug-in hybrids in Louisville, Ky., and a General Motors battery plant in Ohio, according to a study from Atlas Public Policy, a research firm.
Near Savannah, Ga., Hyundai invested in a $7.5 billion factory to build some of its most popular electric vehicle models, which qualify for the consumer credit. Local politicians, who spent years persuading Hyundai to come to the site, are concerned about possible changes to law.
“It’s difficult for a company to invest somewhere and then conditions change,” said Bert Brantley, chief executive of the Savannah Area Chamber of Commerce. “So our take is that some consistency is helpful for companies as they make large investments.”
Still, Mr. Brantley said he hoped that Georgia could continue to be a leader in electric vehicle production regardless of what happens to the tax credits. “This is a long-term play, we hope to be at it for a long time,” he said.
Other Energy Technologies in Limbo
Over the past three years, the federal government has also been supporting a broad array of emerging energy technologies that are less mature, including low-carbon hydrogen fuels that could power trucks, new processes to make cement and steel without emissions, as well as technologies to pull carbon dioxide out of the air.
Many of these projects could potentially qualify for tax breaks in the Inflation Reduction Act. Others have been supported by billions of dollars in grants and loans from the Department of Energy.
In Western Minnesota, DG Fuels plans a $5 billion plant to produce aviation fuel from agricultural waste. In Indiana, Heidelberg Materials, a cement maker, wants to capture the carbon dioxide it emits and bury it underground. In Louisiana, a company is planning to make a low-carbon ammonia that could be used for fertilizer.
New Orleans, which has become a major hub for exporting natural gas, has seen a boom in new industries like carbon capture and hydrogen that could help cut emissions in the future. “We’re becoming very diversified,” said Michael Hecht, president of Greater New Orleans, Inc., the economic development agency for southeast Louisiana.
