States in the south-east of the US and Republican congressional districts are benefitting the most from the IRA, which has its second anniversary this month.

Since the IRA was signed into law on 16 August 2022, companies have announced 334 new clean energy and EV projects across the country, according to E2’s report entitled Clean Economy Works: IRA Two-Year Analysis.

The report noted that “despite the fact that no Republican voted for the legislation”, nearly 60% of the announced projects are based in Republican congressional districts.

Of all new projects, those in Republican districts represent 85% of the investments and 68% of jobs. Of the top 20 congressional districts for clean energy investments, 19 are held by Republicans.

The projects are expected to create nearly 110,000 new jobs and bring a minimum of $126bn of direct private investment to 40 states. Currently, more than 110 major clean energy and EV factories are in development, with 55 of them based in South Carolina and Georgia.

Lucas Olinyk, president of Harvest Solar, a clean energy company based in Jackson, Michigan, said: “Michigan has arguably benefitted from the IRA more than any other state, and that has certainly been our experience here in Jackson County. It feels like clean energy is at a tipping point – and the IRA is an accelerant.

“The IRA has been a strong tailwind for our business these past two years. As interest in solar has grown, we have expanded our customer base to include farm and agricultural projects, utility-scale projects as well as residential and some large commercial rooftops.”

At least 118 of the 334 new projects were announced during the act’s second year of implementation, generating $40bn of new investments and creating approximately 34,600 jobs. This marks a decline from the previous year when 216 projects were announced, which E2 puts down to “the uncertainty of the 2024 elections and more than 40 attempts to roll back or reduce parts of the IRA by the US House”.