The Biden-Harris Administration announced a rapid innovation agenda in December of 2022.

Highlights include:

  • White House Electrification Summit
  • New Regional Networks for Clean Energy
  • A New Equitable and Affordable Electrification Prize
  • Nationwide Commitments to Open Power Outage Data
  • Launch of the 2022/23 Buildings Energy Efficiency Frontiers & Innovation Technologies FOA that will provide up to $45 million for building innovations across building envelope, heating, cooling, water heating, energy storage, and controls technologies
  • AI for Electric Grid Optimization

To pave the way for a clean, electric future, many sectors need to be coordinated:

Better Buildings and Appliances

  • Supporting Building Decarbonization through Tax Credits and Rebates: The Inflation Reduction Act will offer tax credits and rebates to support electrification, energy efficiency measures, and renewable energy for America’s homes and businesses.
  • Launching the Federal Building Performance Standard and Coalition: The Council on Environmental Quality announced the first-ever Federal Building Performance Standard, setting an ambitious goal to cut energy use and electrify equipment and appliances in 30% of the building space owned by the federal government by 2030. The Administration also launched a Building Performance Standards Coalition of over 30 states and local governments to reduce building emissions, create good-paying union jobs in energy efficiency and electrification, and lower energy bills. Last week, California became the latest state to join this Coalition.
  • Investing in Tribal and State Home Energy Efficiency Programs: The DOE Office of State and Community Energy Programs (SCEP) is working to distribute $8.8 billion in rebates to Tribes and states for home energy efficiency and electrification projects from the Inflation Reduction Act.
  • Creating Household Savings through Energy Efficiency: By the end of 2022, the Biden-Harris Administration intends to finalize more than 100 proposed and final actions that will save households money through more efficient air conditioners, stoves, refrigerators, and more. Starting in 2023, the Inflation Reduction Act will provide tax incentives and rebates to homeowners that lower, or in some cases completely cover, the cost of making the switch to energy-efficient appliances that lower the utility bills of American families.
  • Improving School Infrastructure: Vice President Harris announced a new Biden-Harris Action Plan for Building Better School Infrastructure to support energy efficiency retrofits and other improvements that save school districts money and deliver health and education benefits to students, educators, and school staff.
  • Investing in RD&D for Sustainable Buildings and Appliance Efficiency: DOE is accelerating innovation with the launch of the Initiative for Better Energy, Emissions, and Equity, supporting RDD&D of clean heating and cooling systems to support sustainable buildings, and updated ENERGY STAR standards to promote innovative heat pump technologies and encourage electric appliances.
  • Showcasing Better Buildings Through Electrification: Through the Better Climate Challenge, the DOE is working with more than 140 organizations across the US economy to make near term, portfolio wide improvements in pursuit of aggressive GHG reduction targets. Partners are working to showcase real world decarbonization strategies in commercial, industrial and multifamily buildings including pathways for electrification of facilities.

Affordable Electric Transportation

  • Kicking Off America’s Electric Vehicle Boom: The Administration is rallying automakers and autoworkers around an electric transportation future, setting a national target of 50% electric vehicle sales share in 2030 and spurring investments in new American factories to manufacture EVs, batteries, and chargers. The Inflation Reduction Act provides tax credits for new electric vehicles that are assembled in North America and have a battery that meets certain sourcing requirements, and provides tax credits for previously owned electric vehicles.
  • Planning for a Federal Clean Transportation Future: The Administration announced a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) among U.S. Departments of Energy, Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to accelerate the nation’s affordable and equitable clean transportation future. The four agencies will release a national blueprint for transportation decarbonization in January 2023.
  • Reducing Heavy-Duty Vehicle Pollution: Vice President Harris announced actions to accelerate clean buses, trucks, and ports — reducing pollution from heavy-duty transportation and providing relief to fenceline communities who bear the brunt of these dirty emissions. At COP27, Secretary Granholm also signed a MOU to advance uptake of zero-emissions medium and heavy-duty vehicles.
  • Building America’s EV Charging Network: The Administration launched an EV Charging Action Plan to deploy $7.5 billion from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law to build out a national charging network that is convenient, reliable, and equitable, with support from a new Joint Office of Energy and Transportation. Earlier this year, the Joint Office approved Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Deployment Plans for all 50 states, D.C., and Puerto Rico ahead of schedule, and also established the electric vehicle working group to advise the Secretaries of Energy and Transportation regarding development, adoptions, and integration of EVs.
  • Expanding America’s Electric Vehicle Batteries Industrial Base: DOE announced the first set of projects funded by the President’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law to expand domestic manufacturing of batteries for electric vehicles (EVs) and the electrical grid and to advance domestic battery recycling and reuse.
  • Ensuring Critical Minerals Access: President Biden invoked the Defense Production Act to support American production of critical minerals and materials such as lithium, securing nearly $7 billion in the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law for domestic battery manufacturing and recycling — all while adhering to strong sustainability and community engagement standards.

A Smart and Resilient Power Grid

  • Launching the Net-Zero Game Changes Initiative: The White House announced five priorities as part of the Net-Zero Game Changers Initiative, including a priority to support a net-zero power grid and electrification through advanced transmission and distribution planning and operations.
  • Improving Utilities’ Data & Analytics: The DOE Office of Electricity launched the $1.1-million Digitizing Utilities Prize to transform digital systems in the energy sector through data analytics, processing, quality assurance, storage, and deletion.

More Productive, Cleaner Industries

  • Launching the Industrial Heat ShotTM:The DOE Industrial Electrification and Decarbonization Office recently announced the launch of the Industrial Heat Shot™, a new effort aimed at dramatically reducing the cost, energy use, and carbon emissions associated with the heat used to make everything from food to cement and steel. DOE identified the electrification of industrial heating operations as one of the key pathways to reaching the Earthshot target.
  • Investing in Manufacturing Innovation: The DOE issued a $70 million FOA establishing a new Clean Energy Manufacturing Innovation Institute, which will develop and scale technologies to electrify industrial process heating and reduce emissions across the industrial sector.

New U.S. Innovation Agenda to Electrify, Lower Energy Bills and Achieve Climate Goals