ALong for the Ride

Clean energy projects go up in areas once dominated by fossil fuels

- Damien Martin

Clean energy projects are off and running throughout the U.S., with particular attention paid to areas that have traditionally played a role in producing fossil fuel energy and could be at risk of being left behind in a new energy economy.

"These are communities that powered America for literally decades, and this administration, the Biden-Harris administration, believes they're exactly the right folks in the right communities to lead the clean energy transition for decades to come," Deputy U.S. Energy Secretary David Turk said in announcing $428 million in grants for battery manufacturing or recycling projects in 12 states where coal mines and power plants have closed.

Mainspring Energy is using an $87 million federal grant to build a linear generator plant that will support nearly 900 new jobs in Coraopolis, Pa. Sparkz Inc. in Bridgeport, W.Va., is making use of $9.8 million in grants to build the first battery-grade iron phosphate plant in the U.S.