This text is sponsored by Environmental Protection Fund.

The Inflation Discount Act (IRA) is a significant win for American companies, providing firms billions of {dollars} in tax credit, loans and different incentives to speed up progress towards environmental sustainability, and it’s destined to be transformative — so long as these incentives are applied effectively and successfully.

On this collection of articles, enterprise leaders from prime firms will share how they’re implementing IRA provisions and what recommendation they’d give to different firms desirous to capitalize on all of the IRA has to supply. 

At present, now we have Roger Martella, chief sustainability officer at GE and vice chairman of Authorities Affairs and Sustainability at GE Vernova. Previous to GE, Martella co-led Sidley Austin’s international environmental legislation and local weather change practices, and he served as Common Counsel of the U.S. Environmental Safety Company beneath President George W. Bush. He additionally teaches a first-of-its-kind course on Worldwide Environmental Legislation and Justice at Howard College Legislation College.

Victoria Mills: How has passage of the IRA modified the enterprise context for GE?

Roger Martella: The IRA has been a game-changer for each GE and our prospects, offering higher near-term and long-term demand certainty for cleaner vitality investments. We’re already seeing the market response. Within the first quarter of 2023, we noticed a tripling of U.S. onshore wind orders in comparison with final 12 months. It additionally has delivered sharper deal with breakthrough investments equivalent to hydrogen and carbon seize in addition to small modular reactors.

We just lately introduced that GE Vernova will make investments $50 million at its Schenectady, New York facility and rent roughly 200 new full-time workers, together with expert union operators, manufacturing engineers and front-line management, to ascertain a brand new manufacturing meeting line for its onshore wind enterprise. We have been capable of announce this venture because of the certainty of the IRA and the home content material steering.

Mills: Why was GE such a forceful advocate for the IRA? Through which methods did you weigh in?

Martella: GE strongly supported the vitality tax credit within the IRA to advance America’s decarbonization and vitality safety efforts and guarantee continued U.S. management in vitality manufacturing and jobs — each at present and sooner or later. 

In the summertime of 2022, we launched a grassroots public advocacy marketing campaign that delivered practically 1,300 letters to members of Congress representing 34 states. The marketing campaign urged Congress and the Biden administration to cross a complete bundle of fresh vitality tax credit, together with a wind manufacturing tax credit score, a tax credit score for carbon sequestration and tax credit to assist various era sources, equivalent to wind, photo voltaic and nuclear.

GE executives additionally contributed to the general public dialogue on the right way to obtain local weather targets for the vitality sector by sturdy coverage, know-how and investments. For instance, GE’s chairman and CEO, Larry Culp, joined a dialogue on the Milken Institute 2022 International Convention, the place he was clear we “must have that coverage certainty” to assist speed up the vitality transition and promote vitality safety. 

Mills: From which IRA incentives does GE count on to profit?

Martella: The IRA contains a number of clear vitality tax credit that may cut back emissions, promote U.S. vitality safety and enhance jobs and funding. This chart exhibits how GE Vernova’s portfolio of vitality companies throughout wind, gasoline, hydro, storage, nuclear and grid are positioned to profit from the laws. The IRA additionally features a tax credit score for Sustainable Aviation Gas (SAF), which is predicted to assist decrease the fee and incentivize manufacturing of SAF for the aviation trade.

With the alternatives to profit from each the wind tax credit and the superior manufacturing tax credit score, we just lately introduced a plan to assemble two new manufacturing amenities in New York. Our proposal contains particular commitments to rent and prepare new workers from deprived communities, together with an outreach program referred to as Pathways to Wind to supply traditionally under-served communities publicity, training and coaching within the rising offshore wind trade. 

The IRA additionally promotes the breakthrough applied sciences that GE is investing in to attain decarbonization and vitality safety targets sooner or later, together with nuclear, hydrogen, and carbon seize and sequestration. We additionally see alternatives to develop hydropower within the U.S., together with by rising the capability of current amenities.

For the aviation trade, the widespread use of SAF has the potential to dramatically cut back gas lifecycle carbon emissions by as much as 80 p.c, in comparison with jet gas produced from petroleum. GE Aerospace has been actively concerned in assessing and qualifying SAF since 2007, and all GE and companion engines in service at present — and sooner or later — can function with permitted SAF. The IRA’s SAF tax credit score will assist enhance manufacturing and decrease the prices of those fuels.

Mills: How does the IRA assist progress towards GE’s local weather targets?

Martella: In 2021, we set an ambition to succeed in internet zero by 2050 for the Scope 3 emissions related to the usage of our bought merchandise. We’re dedicated to serving to advance the vitality and aviation sectors’ paths towards internet zero by delivering state-of-the-art know-how at present to make progress whereas innovating the breakthrough applied sciences for tomorrow.

The IRA creates the suitable insurance policies on the proper time to drive manufacturing, innovation and supply of the know-how wanted to appreciate these targets throughout a various portfolio of applied sciences which can be key to future success.

Mills: What must occur to ensure the IRA delivers on its potential?

Martella: We see this landmark laws as presenting a novel alternative for GE and different firms to make important and continued progress towards the targets of decarbonization and vitality safety.

We additionally imagine swift steering from companies on implementation is vital to make sure that the IRA’s targets might be achieved on the earliest alternative. The current launch of home content material steering for renewable vitality tax credit, for instance, gave GE Vernova the readability we would have liked to make a long-term funding in U.S. manufacturing to assist onshore wind.

We sit up for partnering with the administration on different steering wanted to unlock investments, together with the superior manufacturing tax credit score, hydropower, hydrogen, nuclear and others.  

We are also steadfast that the sorts of insurance policies within the IRA shouldn’t simply yield advantages in the USA. To actually remedy local weather change and international vitality safety, we have to share the teachings from the IRA globally and make sure the complete world — together with rising economies — is invested within the new vitality economic system. 

Mills: What would you prefer to see different firms doing now concerning the IRA? What’s one piece of recommendation you’d prefer to share?

Martella: We’re in a transformative period of motion on local weather change, pushed largely by rising partnership between the personal and public sectors. More and more, authorities is counting on companies to handle local weather change and vitality safety by innovation and know-how. In flip, trade is rising to resolve the world’s most urgent challenges. The IRA is without doubt one of the greatest manifestations of this sort of partnership the place trade leads the vitality transition and authorities allows it, as U.S. Secretary of Vitality Jennifer Granholm has mentioned.

I wish to see firms throughout sectors seize the chance now we have proper now to safe America’s management within the clear vitality transition. Meaning making the most of the historic incentives and investments within the IRA, delivering the financial and environmental outcomes that the legislation makes potential, and partnering to attain extra collectively than anybody firm can do alone.