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Policy Recommendations from the Discussion

Accelerate the development of the nuclear energy supply chain in Kentucky

To demonstrate the opportunity for Kentucky to manufacture parts for the existing U.S. nuclear fleet, the Kentucky General Assembly should fund a study to identify what certifications (if any) are required for workers, which parts could be manufactured, and the standards that must be put in place to produce nuclear power plant equipment in Kentucky. Moreover, this would include determining if a new manufacturing line within an existing facility is required (or if they can be produced on existing production lines or if an entirely new facility would be required) to fabricate the equipment.

Promote the global competitiveness of Kentucky-made products

To support Kentucky’s global competitiveness in sustainable product/material manufacturing, the Kentucky General Assembly should dedicate resources to establish an interstate regional coalition across the southeast Ohio River Valley and Appalachia focused on transportation, manufacturing, and energy supply.

Build, expand, and retool infrastructure to support access to the new energy economy

To address the need for greater coordination between state, local, and federal government entities on energy infrastructure buildout, Congress should pass legislation to direct the U.S. Economic Development Administration (EDA) to establish a federal Office of Community Prosperity for Underserved Communities, with coordinating offices in all 50 states, as conduits for state, local, federal, and industry to access federal funds.

The Kentucky General Assembly should pass enabling legislation to support the development of a corresponding office at the state level.

Promote workforce development for advanced energy manufacturing in Kentucky

To increase access to and utilization of workforce development opportunities, the Kentucky General Assembly should fund the creation of a comprehensive online database of workforce development resources and opportunities for area development districts, local governments, and local communities across the state.

Develop the innovation ecosystem for advanced energy in Kentucky

To equitably and transparently strengthen the innovation ecosystem in Kentucky, and across the country, Congress should establish a public/private partnership supporting a national Innovation & Entrepreneurship program that drives a graduated K-12 experiential learning program.

Conclusion

As recent momentum has demonstrated significant opportunities for Kentucky to leverage its infrastructure and human capital in the emerging advanced energy economy, further state and federal investment is necessary to continue to attract investment and preserve or even expand the global competitiveness of Kentucky-made products. Roundtable participants were optimistic about the opportunity for the state, but noted that significant investment in workforce and community development are necessary to ensure communities are able to support these emerging industries and enjoy the benefits they bring to the Commonwealth.

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Policy Recommendations

Educate businesses, policymakers, and communities about LDES technologies and use cases.

• DOE’s Office of Energy Efficiency & Renewable Energy should include messaging on LDES as one of its “emerging clean energy strategies” through the Clean Energy to Communities program administered by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory.
• Utilities, regional transmission organizations (RTOs)/independent system operators (ISOs), consultants, energy modelers, and indirectly, solution providers should educate utility commissioners on the full value of long-duration energy storage resources outside their value as a capacity resource, by providing them with a report of use cases and examples of successful LDES demonstrations and deployments. This report could be modeled after the Virginia Energy Storage Task Force’s Final Report published in 2021.
• The Virginia Department of Energy should conduct a study on the education gaps among policymakers, companies, workers, and the general public, including: potential use cases; economic impacts; and geographic limitations of long-duration energy storage in the state.
  • Informed by the study’s results, Virginia Energy should create an independent organization, modeled after the Virginia Nuclear Energy Consortium, to address public awareness gaps and serve as an educational resource on LDES in the state.
  • This independent organization could also provide guidance to counties on the development of ordinances relating to energy storage to support standardization across the state.

Engage communities proactively, transparently, and comprehensively

• Local governments interested in deploying long-duration energy storage should host collaborative sessions with stakeholder groups to identify their needs, concerns, and interests in the technology, which can help inform permitting decisions and project development processes.

Value the benefits of long-duration energy storage in policy incentives and markets.

• States setting energy storage procurement/portfolio requirements should differentiate between short- and-long duration energy storage.
• States procuring renewable electricity like offshore wind should procure storage in parallel to support grid reliability as the share of renewable energy increases. Before issuing a request for proposals, the state should conduct a commensurate study to determine the type of storage and timing of deployment to identify the most cost-effective solution.

Conclusion

As Virginia looks to scale up its clean energy resources and energy storage capacity, long-duration energy storage provides a unique opportunity to bridge the intermittency of renewables like solar and wind to provide firm, dispatchable, reliable power to the Commonwealth. Growing electricity demand from data centers and other large industrial customers, alongside increasing risks of extreme weather exacerbated by a warming climate, also create an opportunity for LDES to provide additional benefits. Additionally, production of components and construction of projects could create large-scale employment opportunities for Virginia’s skilled workers. However, many policymakers, regulators, developers, and communities remain unfamiliar with the nuances of the technology and opportunities to deploy it locally. Significantly more education about the barriers and opportunities of this technology can help position Virginia to meet and exceed its ambitious energy storage goals.

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Recommendations

• The Department of Transportation’s Center for Transportation Workforce Development should create a national EV workforce moonshot with clear roles for each level of government. This includes fewer restrictions on federal investments, as well as technical support, state convening, and supporting programs, with an eye toward leveraging local knowledge to drive more effective implementation. As an intermediate step, the federal government should invest in capacity building for states to support local governments applying for federal funding related to workforce development programs.
• Michigan should help support applications for federal funding applications, similar to the EPA’s Technical Assistance Hubs. These programs provide capacity for frontline communities to navigate and access the historic level of resources provided by the Inflation Reduction Act. Michigan should have a program that also provides technical assistance to communities looking to access resources for workforce development programs.
• The state should create an “anchor” organization that coordinates and is supported by employers to create an inclusive workforce. This “anchor” organization should serve as a central and neutral convenor to bring all stakeholders together, create a forum for sharing and understanding all stakeholders’ unique needs, and create an organized path forward for the EV workforce. It should engage companies throughout the supply chain, education providers, workforce development agencies, economic development organizations, labor, and state government.
• The state should lead a marketing campaign for jobs and careers in the future mobility industry to make these careers attractive to prospective workers. This marketing campaign should target Michiganders broadly, with specific focus on secondary educators including: guidance counselors, career advisors in vocational/technical schools, and teachers—particularly of science, technology, engineering, arts, and mathematics (STEAM) classes. Outreach and marketing materials should demonstrate the possibilities of a career in the future mobility industry, as well as highlighting the kinds of skills that are needed to thrive.
• The state should invest in placemaking to build a community of support for a person’s full day, including wrap-around services like housing, public transit or alternative modes of transportation, and childcare. Building on the baseline data in the 2023 Growing Michigan Together Council Report, state agencies should identify neighborhoods with lower labor force participation and their barriers to working. Once these are identified, the state should create and fund employment hubs to provide the necessary support to pursue employment opportunities.
• The state should provide funding and technical assistance to communities, whether municipal governments or local economic/workforce development organizations, to identify barriers to enter the workforce, make a plan to address these barriers, and seek resources for these solutions.
• The city of Detroit, with funding and policy support from the state, should invest in its transportation infrastructure to attract and retain residents. In addition to investing in public transportation infrastructure to better connect the city, and to connect neighborhoods where people live and work, the city should invest in electric mobility solutions like public EV charging infrastructure. The city government should work collaboratively with the automotive industry to highlight future mobility industry opportunities in the city and attract investment.

Conclusion

Throughout the February 2024 convening, participants representing key companies, economic development organizations, NGOs, and communities demonstrated that Michigan has the potential to lead the development of the future mobility industry, and showed excitement around developing the next steps necessary to succeed. Building on the state’s existing investments in EV workforce development, additional policy and programmatic initiatives can augment federal and private sector resources to support the recruitment, training, retention, and prosperity of workers across the future mobility industry in Michigan.

Click here to learn more about our Regional Roundtable Program.

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Policy Recommendations

Facilitate recycling, improve recyclability, and promote second-life applications

• Congress should direct U.S. EPA to commission a study to explore the implications of enacting federal-level extended producer responsibility for electric vehicle batteries. This report should identify essential elements of policy design, including whether battery manufacturers or automakers should be responsible for battery recycling or safe disposal, and to what extent responsible parties should fund collection and recycling. The study should include an advisory group with representation from battery manufacturers, automakers, recyclers, and community leaders.
• National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) should enact transparent national minimum safety standards for workers interacting with, repairing, and dismantling electric vehicle batteries and other mobility related high voltage batteries. These should build upon NHTSA’s Battery Safety Initiative and be enforced across the United States.
• U.S. EPA should enact minimum recyclability standards for EVs that support consistent design and ease of battery removal. In the absence of standards developed directly by U.S. EPA, the agency should support the development of a third-party multi-stakeholder consensus-based standard that both the federal government and industry can use.
• Congress, through the Federal Trade Commission and in consultation with U.S. EPA, should create an official minimum definition of “recycled content” as it applies to components within EV batteries.
• In the next revision of Ohio’s Learning Standards, the Ohio Department of Education and Workforce should build competencies on recycling and waste management into science standards at every grade level. Building on the high-school level environmental science standard GP.9, “Waste management (solid and hazardous),” science concepts based on identifying waste and recyclable materials and correctly sorting and disposing of them should be integrated to “Nature of Science” standards for each grade level.[i]
• The Ohio state legislature should direct and fund Ohio EPA to provide guidance to municipalities on best practices for reducing waste and growing the circular economy, periodically updated to include best practices from municipalities across the state.
• Ohio EPA should offer grants to community organizations to support outreach and education of consumers on proper recycling best practices.

Promote data transparency and information sharing

• Congress should require EV batteries sold in the United States to include a digital battery passport indicating battery composition, recycled content, and pertinent information for safe dismantling. Further, Congress should require U.S. EPA to facilitate this data sharing through a secure platform. Congress should provide funding to U.S. EPA to support the development and administration of this program, and to explore alignment with the EU Battery Pass initiative.
• When providing guidance for EV battery collection and labeling, as directed by the IIJA, U.S. EPA should include guidelines for identification of proper battery dismantling procedures based on the location of key components in the battery.
• U.S. EPA should renew and expand the Solid Waste Infrastructure for Recycling Grants for Communities program to provide funding for additional communities to develop accessible recycling infrastructure and data collection. Congress should expand this program, authorized under the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, to include specific funding for end-of-life battery collection and recycling.
• Congress should provide funding through U.S. EPA to support the development of materials marketplace programs, similar to the Ohio Materials Marketplace convened by Ohio EPA, across all 50 states, as well as coordination among the programs via U.S. EPA.

Support innovation & attract investment

• Innovate Ohio should lead an effort to convene utilities, startups, and battery manufacturers to identify opportunities for end-of-life EV batteries to serve as grid storage resources.
• JobsOhio should add critical materials recycling and circular economy to the targeted industries included covered under its R&D Center Grant program.
• Congress should increase funding for Battery R&D within the Vehicle Technologies Office, to include, at a minimum, the new research priorities identified in DOE’s FY 2025 budget request.
• Cities and counties across Ohio should set sustainability targets, including emissions reduction and recycling goals. These goals help guide companies and communities toward sustainability improvements and make federal grant applications more competitive (especially under the IRA/BIL). Having sustainability targets can inform a city’s economic development plans and support alignment with local businesses. Additionally, a sustainable purchasing policy can demonstrate leadership and kickstart both emissions reductions and demand that can help scale emerging industries locally.

Onshore Critical Materials Capacity

• The Ohio state legislature should create a tax credit for battery manufacturers to use recycled content in their products.
• Ohio EPA should partner with big box retailers and auto mechanics to create accessible, visible collection points for end-of-life lithium-ion batteries, including those in small electric mobility devices like scooters and e-bikes, and electric vehicles.
• Congress, through DOE’s Advanced Materials and Manufacturing Technologies Office, should support the development of critical materials recycling hubs, similar to other models like hydrogen hubs and tech hubs, promoting the geographic co-location of collection, recycling infrastructure, processing, and utilization. Building on the work of the Critical Materials Innovation Hub, these hubs could provide targeted financial support to develop the industry in tandem with the battery production industry, reducing costs and spurring development. The geographic locations of these hubs should be selected through a competitive process prioritizing key metrics such as the presence of existing recycling infrastructure, processing, utilization, and/or manufacturing capacity.
• Local economic development organizations should facilitate partnerships between companies to enable economical end-of life collection, transportation, dismantling and recycling of EV batteries.
• The Ohio state legislature should establish a tax rebate for the recycling of end-of-life electric vehicle batteries equivalent to the average estimated value of the critical minerals contained within it.

Comprehensively and Proactively Engage Communities

• Congress should create a funding program through the Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) to support municipalities’ capacity to facilitate community engagement. This program should support additional staffing or contract support for municipal governments to conduct community outreach and engagement activities with developers ahead of new projects.

Promote Workforce Development and Safety

• NHTSA and OSHA should set minimum safety standards for battery collection, transport, dismantling, disposal, repair, and processing. These should be consistent for workers across the industry and trainings for certifications in these standards should be widely accessible.
• Companies should offer workforce development programming, including recruitment and training of new entrants to the field; safety training for workers in adjacent industries to be prepared to safely service, remove, and dismantle EV batteries; and diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts to support workers of all backgrounds.

Conclusion

This is a pivotal moment for Ohio’s automotive industry, as companies make plans to build electric vehicle and battery manufacturing facilities and grow the EV supply chain in the state and across the Midwest. Ohio is poised to become a leader on battery recycling, with benefits to both the state’s economic competitiveness and the nation’s ability to secure a domestic supply of critical materials. Participants in our December 2023 regional roundtable were optimistic about this opportunity, while emphasizing that much more work is necessary to truly take advantage of its offerings. They highlighted the need for expanded collection, transport, and recycling infrastructure; significant levels of consumer, business, and policymaker education; investments in worker safety and training; research and development initiatives to improve the economics and recyclability of batteries; and policy development to incentivize and coordinate recycling practices across the industry.

Click here to learn more about our Regional Roundtable Program.

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