WASHINGTON – In partnership with Invenergy, Citizens for Responsible Energy Solutions (CRES) released the following blog related to the 45Y and 48E technology-neutral and 45X advanced manufacturing tax credits:
Can you give us an overview of Invenergy’s footprint, and how your company is scaling its domestic investments to support American energy independence?
Invenergy is North America’s largest privately held independent power producer – with a 20+ year track record developing, owning, and operating a diverse range of energy solutions – solar, wind and natural gas generation as well as energy storage systems. The company has built 34 GW of generating capacity across 34 states and four continents —and is exploring more innovative technologies, like geothermal, to meet our customers’ needs today and in the future.
We believe that America needs a diversified energy mix to power American energy independence – which includes all forms of electricity generation and critical infrastructure like transmission to deliver it. Invenergy is building the largest private-sector-led transmission project in U.S. history – Grain Belt Express. This $11 billion critical infrastructure project would power $52 billion in cost savings for Americans, strengthen grid reliability for regions serving 40% of Americans, and 25% of Department of Defense facilities, and unlock five GW of American-made energy.
Invenergy is also onshoring the energy supply chain with its advanced solar panel manufacturing facility, Illuminate USA, in central Ohio. Opened in 2024, Illuminate USA supports over 1,500 jobs and produces five GW of made-in-America solar modules annually. With the right policy environment, we intend to onshore additional components of the solar supply chain, which are key to supporting the Administration’s energy dominance goals.
How have the tech-neutral designs of 45Y and 48E supported America’s energy infrastructure buildout, and what’s at stake if these incentives are weakened or eliminated?
Our number one priority is delivering cleaner, more reliable, affordable energy to meet electricity demand, ultimately benefitting American consumers. The technology-neutral tax credits are critical to achieving this goal because they enable rapid scaling of energy projects at a pace commensurate with demand, with the technologies ready and most cost-effective right now. This support has enabled the U.S. to meet demand with American-made energy, which is key to strengthening U.S. energy independence and reducing foreign reliance. It has provided substantial economic and energy security benefits as well as good-paying jobs for American communities.
Since 2020, Invenergy has nearly doubled our workforce and helped major customers like Verizon, Meta, and Honda meet their energy needs while strengthening grid reliability. Invenergy recently closed $1.1 billion in construction financing for three utility-scale solar projects across different markets. Invenergy has created thousands of jobs—and just in 2024, Invenergy invested $436 million in land costs, lease payments, state and local taxes, and project-generated wages and benefits across American communities.
If the credits went away, financing would take much longer, jeopardizing America’s ability to keep up with demand and causing consumers to pay more for increased electricity needs.
How are energy tax credits affecting Americans’ energy bills and job creation, and why are provisions like transferability and start of construction standards critical for maintaining these benefits?
The economic benefits are significant: if kept intact, the energy tax credits would deliver a 4X return on investment, support 13.7 million jobs, and grow the U.S. economy by $1.9 trillion over 10 years. Eliminating the credits would add an estimated $83 per month to household electricity bills – that’s nearly $1,000 annually. On jobs, Invenergy has created thousands of jobs across America and we’re training the next generation of the clean energy workforce through the our Center of Excellence, Invenergy’s state-of-the-art training facility that’s unlocking career advancement opportunities for Invenergy employees across America.
The transferability component of the tax credits is key because it mitigates risk for banks and investors concerned about a volatile political environment, and it unlocks more capital into the market. The start of construction provision mitigates even more risk for investors by allowing companies to lock in credits earlier and eliminating contingency factors like permitting delays or weather that’s outside developers’ control. We were pleased to see the Senate Finance Committee restore that structure earlier this week in their bill.
Based on your experience with Illuminate USA, what’s the most effective approach to onshoring critical energy supply chains while ensuring American companies can compete globally?
From the start, we’ve known that the best way to reduce foreign reliance and to control our own supply chain is to bring the expertise back home. And the fastest way to do that is to partner with leading global manufacturers. To date, Illuminate USA has created more than 1,500 jobs in central Ohio, producing 9 million solar panels annually – 5 GW of annual output. The facility represents a $600 million investment in Ohio manufacturing capacity, creating a new tax base for the local community and the state, as well as a domestic energy manufacturing workforce with high-value skills and technological expertise.
But we’ve also learned that the solar supply chain will not be onshored overnight. It starts with the panels, which create upstream demand for cells, then wafers, then ingots and finally polysilicon. Illuminate USA is the first step towards onshoring additional parts of the supply chain. The energy tax credits are critical to ensure continued access to these imports while upstream domestic capacity scales up. and to fully onshore the entire supply chain, domestic manufacturers need clear, predictable transition timelines for their supply chains that empower – not weaken – American manufacturing.
With unprecedented electricity demand from AI and data centers, how urgent is it to get these policies right, and what are the consequences of uncertainty for American energy infrastructure?
We all know that implementing policies takes time. In the face of unprecedented electricity demand increases, time is a luxury we just don’t have. That’s why a stable policy environment is so important. It unlocks capital and accelerates the ability to unleash all sources of American-made energy to meet rising demand. If we don’t, we’re jeopardizing the ability to achieve the president’s energy dominance agenda and strengthen American global leadership.
Kelly Speakes-Backman serves as Invenergy’s Executive Vice President for Public Affairs. For more information about Invenergy’s role in advancing American energy dominance, visit invenergy.com.