40% of Biden’s IRA manufacturing projects delayed or paused, FT reports

Nearly 40% of the largest U.S. manufacturing investments announced in the first year of President Joe Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act and Chips and Science Act have been delayed or paused, according to a Financial Times investigation, Amanda Chu, Alexandra White and Rhea Basarkar report. Of the projects worth more than $100M, a total of $84B have been delayed for between two months and several years, or paused indefinitely, the FT found, adding that the delays could complicate efforts by Vice President Kamala Harris to use the administration’s record on manufacturing to attract blue-collar voters in November’s presidential election. Among the largest projects on hold are Enel’s $1B solar panel factory in Oklahoma, LG Energy Solution’s $2.3B battery storage facility in Arizona and Albemarle’s $1.3B lithium refinery in South Carolina.