Illustration: Tiffany Herring/Axios
A new industry — battery manufacturing machinery — is vying for IRA support.
Why it matters: The IRA offers riches to industries needed to combat climate change. But it didn't give money to everyone — and omissions may have energy security implications.
Driving the news: Machinery makers this month formed an ad-hoc group in D.C., the U.S. Battery Machine Builders coalition.
- The coalition — which includes multinational energy and tech giant Siemens, U.S. construction company Bechtel and furnace maker Abbott Furnace — aims to convince Congress and the executive branch that they should fund battery companies that buy equipment and parts at home.
Last week, the coalition took its first action: a letter to the president calling for a domestic procurement preference in funding decisions.
- "[F]ew incentives were included for battery machinery; inadvertently putting our segment of the industry at a disadvantage," says the letter, which singles out the expanded 48C advanced energy credit in the IRA as a key program for applying a preference.
Between the lines: From mining to autos and batteries and chips, a lot of industries are asking for federal money, citing energy security.
- Battery machinery is a business with risks that ring similar to those of other sectors, as China is the leading producer of requisite equipment.
- "We know through our coalition members and through our knowledge of the current recipients of federal funds that they're largely looking overseas for equipment. It's largely based on price," said coalition spokesman Bennett Resnik, who's also senior vice president at D.C. government affairs firm Venn Strategies.
Zoom out: It's notable that as the IRA is being implemented, other business segments are also coming forward with claims of potential flaws in the law's design.
- Sustainable steelmaking startups recently told climate news outlet Cipher that the law's credits for carbon capture and storage are "skewing the market" in favor of steel made with hydrogen and natural gas, as opposed to newer innovative methods.
The big picture: We don't know whether this idea will pick up traction. The White House and the Energy Department didn't respond to requests for comment.
- In a political environment where anti-China sentiment is a rare source of bipartisanship, anything could be possible in the future.
