April 21, 2024 - Top Biden administration officials announced Friday the first tranche of $10 billion in manufacturing tax credits tied to the Inflation Reduction Act, saying some of the funds will provide a lifeline for communities with shuttered coal mines or coal-fired power plants.

The Energy Department unveiled 35 of 100 recipients — the first to allow for their information to be publicly disclosed — including projects tied to the production of critical minerals, renewable energy technologies and electric vehicle batteries. Some of the projects are located in communities with closed mines or plants.

Split across 20 states, the projects altogether received a total of $1.93 billion in allocations from competitive manufacturing tax credits under a program called 48C, which sets aside credits for former industrial sites.

The announcement marks an acceleration of the administration’s strategy to inject struggling communities with funds tied to the climate law heading into an election year. The IRA, which Biden signed into law in 2022, expanded the 48C tax credit program, setting aside $10 billion for the incentives, with at least $4 billion of that going to “energy communities.”