For Real Energy Dominance, We Need the IRA

What if — despite the news — America is in fact the world’s most promising country to invest in right now? What if now is actually the best time to build a manufacturing facility in the U.S., particularly for the new energy economy? What if hundreds of communities could be rejoicing in fresh opportunities to work in future-facing industries?

And what if the reason comes down to the combined efforts of Joe Biden and Donald Trump?

I’ve always said that to reshore and rebuild manufacturing in America, we have to play two parts offense and one part defense. The Inflation Reduction Act, which Biden signed into law in 2022, is the biggest offensive play the U.S. has ever made, with tax credits and incentives that are unleashing a clean energy arms race right here at home. Tariffs can be defense, provided they’re phased in and negotiated smartly to allow for U.S. supply chains to develop.

We now face a choice: Abandon our offensive strategy by gutting those IRA tax incentives, or play to win by building on the work we did during the Biden administration. It’s that simple — to achieve true energy dominance, America needs the IRA. And then over the next three years the Trump administration will have the honor of cutting the ribbon on all those new factories.

But the time is urgent. Congress is debating the federal budget over the next few weeks, and the fate of the IRA — and all of those factories and jobs — hangs in the balance.

The fact is, the IRA is working. When I was Secretary of Energy, the department partnered with businesses on over 500 new energy projects, from hydrogen hubs to nuclear power supply chains. Syrah Technologies is scaling up graphite refining in Louisiana. Lithium Americas just snagged a more than $2.2 billion loan to tap Thacker Pass in Nevada. Qcells opened the first major U.S. solar panel factory since the IRA became law. Fifty gigawatts of solar module capacity have been announced just this year.

This isn’t a blue-state fever dream. As you have no doubt heard, red states are raking in 85% of the investment and 68% of the jobs. Georgia, Texas, South Carolina, North Carolina — these places aren’t debating the IRA, they’re building it. In steel. In solar. In wages. In futures. That’s not “someday.” That’s happening now in the Heartland, in manufacturing towns, in places that haven’t heard the word booming in decades.

That’s how you build dominance — by making the U.S. the place where the world’s energy future gets manufactured. By making the U.S. irresistible for energy investment.

This isn’t just about being “green.” It’s about geopolitics. It’s about making sure the electrons that power our homes, our tanks, and our data centers come from American soil, not authoritarian states. China currently dominates clean energy supply chains — 70% of battery manufacturing, 80% of solar cell production, almost 100% of critical mineral processing. That’s not coincidence; it’s strategy.

The IRA isn’t just correcting a trade imbalance — it’s rewriting the global energy map. Whether or not you believe in climate change, the rest of the world is buying and building the products to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, which will become a $34 trillion global market by 2050. Without the IRA, we lose our shot to beat China and the EU in innovation. We lose those jobs. We lose low-cost energy. And we give away the opportunity to power artificial intelligence-driven growth with American electrons.

And let’s talk about AI for a second, because data centers are now part of national security. In 2024, the U.S. used 45% of the world’s data center power. That number’s going to double by 2030. Our AI doesn’t run on hopes and vibes — it runs on power. And if it’s not our power, we’re exposed. We lose data centers to countries that are eager to power the AI economy, and we lose our national security right along with it.

The IRA makes that energy surge possible, and quickly. It’s catalyzing the hundreds of gigawatts of clean power slated to be added to the grid over the next three years.

Since the IRA passed, DOE counted over 950 factory and project announcements, promising almost 800,000 jobs by 2030. A recent Rhodium Group report showed that the IRA has more than tripled investment in solar, wind, batteries, and electric vehicle manufacturing since its passage, triggering a U.S. manufacturing boom. But in Q1 2025, due to the uncertainty over tax credits and tariffs, almost $7 billion of that investment has been canceled — the highest quarterly cancellation rate on record. Freyr Battery killed plans to build a $2.6 billion battery cell manufacturing plant in Georgia. In Arizona, Kore Power scrapped its gigafactory. Dominance shrivels when policy is weak.

Repealing the tax credits would raise electric bills on working families by 7% to 10%. That’s $6 billion out of the pockets of American families by 2030, and over $9 billion by 2035. Strip the IRA, and we lose supply chains. We lose factories. For what? To make China stronger? To make our grid weaker? To raise bills on the very communities who finally have something to look forward to?

Here’s the truth: You can’t be energy “dominant” if you gut the energy sources that are projected to add 80% to 90% of new gigawatts to the U.S. grid between now and 2030. Clean power is projected to add a whopping 463 gigawatts of power to the grid by 2030, according to the Energy Information Administration. That’s the equivalent of 230 Hoover Dams — but only if the IRA stays. And you can’t claim dominance when you gut the means to manufacture those products at home. Saying that the U.S. is striving for energy dominance except in the clean energy sector is like opening a steakhouse and forgetting the meat. What happened to “all of the above”?

If we’re serious about reclaiming energy dominance, the path isn’t theoretical, it’s legislative. It’s the IRA. It’s our biggest shot at securing the grid, reshoring supply chains, lowering bills, and out-innovating everyone else.

Energy dominance requires a no-holds-barred battle plan; let’s not surrender our most powerful weapon as we make America irresistible for investment again.

The views expressed here are the author’s own and not necessarily those of the DGA Group.