Electric Vehicle Development The transportation sector of the country’s infrastructure is currently geared toward fossil-fuel usage and traditional internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles. As the EV revolution gets underway, the support infrastructure for EVs must also be built. That is why the infrastructure bill creates federal, state and local partnerships to develop more than 500,000 EV chargers installed nationwide by 2030. The construction of EV charger networks proves the bill is not just focused on building for the present but also on building for the future.
Other Important Aspects President Biden’s second infrastructure bill may also include the following components that will not only help the solar industry but will allow clean energy companies across all sectors to thrive: • $35 billion to address the issue of climate change in the broadest possible sense • Create a Civilian Conservation Corps • $40 billion: Investment in a new Dislocated Workers Program and sector-based training to retrain fossil-fuel workers to fill clean-energy jobs • 700 GW: The expected solar capacity by 2030 — necessary to be on track to reach the 100% clean energy production goals by 2035 • 90 GW: For the annual solar installation goal by 2030 — essential to be on track to reach the 100% clean energy production goals by 2035 Will It Pass? The prospects of passing the ambitious bill have yet to be determined. Since the climate change provisions are likely to be contained in a second infrastructure bill that will only need Democratic votes under the reconciliation process, the negotiations to get it passed should be much easier. Many of the negotiations will come down to whether Democrats can get Senators like West Virginia’s Joe Manchin on board, although he has indicated tentative support for such an infrastructure plan that would focus on transitioning coal-mining communities to becoming centers for clean-energy production. The devil, as always, is in the details. Since it is unlikely that the final bill will be passed until the fall, it bears watching the ensuing negotiations closely, and it’s important for the solar industry to fight for the provisions it sees as essential to its success. Byrn is the director of development operations for Rockville, Md.-based Standard Solar.
“ The construction of EV charger networks
proves the bill is not just focused on building for the present but also on building for the future.
6 RE : NEW • SUMMER 2021
© STANDARD SOL AR
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