U.S. Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm delivers a speech before speaking with S&P Global Vice Chairman Daniel Yergin during the CERAWeek energy conference in Houston, Texas, U.S., March 8, 2023. Portal/Callaghan O’Hare/File Photo Purchase License Rights
WASHINGTON, Aug 31 (Portal) – The Biden administration is offering $12 billion in grants and loans to automakers and suppliers to convert their plants to produce electric and other advanced vehicles, Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm said on Thursday.
“As we transition to electric vehicles, we want to make sure that frontline workers can transition, that no worker and no community is left behind,” Granholm, a former governor of the automobile state of Michigan, told reporters in a call.
Accelerating grants and other subsidies to finance the conversion of existing auto factories to build electric vehicles could help the White House address criticism from automakers and the United Auto Workers (UAW) union of proposed environmental regulations intended to usher in the era of electric vehicles , to mitigate.
The UAW has warned that rapid change could put thousands of jobs at risk in states including Michigan, Ohio, Illinois and Indiana.
Last week, UAW members voted overwhelmingly to authorize a strike at the Detroit Three automakers if an agreement on wages and pension plans is not reached before the current four-year contract expires on Sept. 14.
On Thursday, UAW President Shawn Fain welcomed the announcement, saying the policy “makes it clear to employers that the transition to electric vehicles must include strong union partnerships with the high wage and safety standards that generations of UAW members have fought and won for.” “
President Joe Biden said in a press release that “building a clean energy economy can and should provide a win-win opportunity for auto companies and union workers who have anchored the American economy for decades.”
Fain has vowed to save a Jeep factory in Belvidere, Illinois, that Stellantis (STLAM.MI) has moved to close. The automaker has left open the possibility that the factory could get a new product with government help.
Asked about the chances the grants could keep the factory running, Granholm said factories built around communities are “ideal to benefit from these funding opportunities.”
There will be no specific labor requirements for companies to receive the funding, but projects with better labor conditions would have a greater chance of receiving the funding, an Energy Department official said in the call.
The government will also offer $3.5 billion in funding to domestic battery manufacturers, Granholm said.
The advanced vehicles will receive $2 billion in grants from the Inflation Reduction Act passed by Democrats last year, and $10 billion in loans will be provided by the Energy Department’s Loans Program Office.
Reporting by Timothy Gardner in Washington Additional reporting by Joe White in Detroit; Edited by Bill Berkrot and Matthew Lewis
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