Former coal towns get money for clean energy factories

In Weirton, W.Va., in the heart of coal country, a company founded by MIT scientists plans to build a factory that will produce a metal and alloy crucial for clean energy, fuel cells and cleaner steel.

In Vernon, Texas, also a former coal town, a third-generation wind entrepreneur plans to manufacture turbines suitable for remote, rural locations.

And in Vandergrift, Pennsylvania, and Louisville, Colorado, a window maker plans to modernize aging factories to produce thin, insulated units that make buildings more energy efficient.

All are projects that will receive federal funding aimed at helping small and medium-sized manufacturers bring clean energy jobs to former coal communities, part of a $1 trillion infrastructure package that President Biden signed into law in 2021. The Energy Department announced the projects on Monday. .

The program is an effort by the Biden administration to win support for its agenda to reduce America’s dependence on coal, oil and gas, the leading causes of global warming. But it also points to widespread recognition that as the world transitions to cleaner energy sources such as wind and solar, workers in the fossil fuel industry – as well as in regions dependent on them – are at risk of being left behind.

Coal mining jobs have fallen dramatically in recent decades, and in 2022 there were fewer than 50,000 coal miners left in the United States, half the number a decade ago, according to U.S. figures. the latest figures of the Energy Information Agency.

And these energy workers have not found clean energy jobs, despite rapid growth in sectors like solar and wind. a recent research Research from 130 million online work profiles found that in 2021, less than 1 percent of all workers who left jobs in the coal, mining and oil and gas sectors moved to “green” jobs in the renewable energy sector.

Coal workers in particular have had a hard time during the transition, the study shows. Less than a quarter percent of workers who left fossil fuel jobs in West Virginia moved to renewable energy jobs, said E. Mark Curtis, an economist at Wake Forest University who led the study. Education was another factor: Fossil fuel workers without a college degree were significantly less likely to find clean energy jobs.

“In places like Texas or the middle of the country where there is a lot of solar and wind energy, fossil fuel communities are relatively well positioned to take advantage of renewables,” Mr. Curtis said. “Coal communities generally don’t have that, especially when you think about Appalachia.”

He said it made sense for government funding to target former coal regions and focus on manufacturing projects, because data showed former fossil fuel workers were most likely to try to transition to manufacturing jobs. “I think this is a very achievable form of transition for a lot of these workers and communities,” he said.

With the subsidy program, the United States is also trying to recapture more clean energy production, which China and other countries have come to dominate over the past decade.

The goal is to “provide new economic opportunities and ensure these communities continue to play their key role in strengthening America’s national and energy security,” said Jennifer M. Granholm, U.S. Secretary of Energy.

The program will distribute $275 million across seven projects in the first round, and the DOE said it expects the funding to be supplemented with about an additional $600 million in private investment.

The companies building the new factories said they are keen to tap into local expertise. “The most valuable asset for the project is a legacy workforce that has played an important role in the U.S. metals industry,” Boston Metal CEO Tadeu Carneiro said in an interview.

The new plant in West Virginia expects to employ 200 to 250 people and will produce ultra-pure chromium metal and high-temperature alloys that are critical materials needed for clean energy, fuel cells and steel. Currently, foreign manufacturers dominate these materials.

West Virginia Northern Community College, which teaches about 1,600 students in Weirton, said in a letter of support for the project that it was ready to set up courses and internships for students interested in employment with Boston Metal.

The proposed project, the report said, “could help revive metal production in the region after decades of decline.”