New Report: 67% of Appalachia’s Projected Clear Power Jobs at Danger as Federal & Non-public Investments Flatline

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Evaluation Exhibits Clear Power Investments Dropped from $4.7 Billion Peak to Stagnation Below Trump Administration, Threatening Over 61,000 Good-Paying Jobs

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APPALACHIA — A brand new report launched this month by ReImagine Appalachia reveals that 67% of the area’s 92,282 projected clear power jobs — over 61,000 jobs — are actually in danger following dramatic coverage shifts beneath the Trump administration. “Monitoring the Appalachian Impacts: What’s on the Line as Federal Funding Flatlines” paperwork how clear power investments throughout Pennsylvania, Ohio, West Virginia, and Kentucky have flatlined after historic development, threatening transformative financial alternatives in Appalachian communities.

The great evaluation tracks quarterly information from 2018 via Q3 2025, analyzing each federal and personal investments throughout three main classes: power and trade deployment, clear power manufacturing, and retail purchases of greenhouse gas-reducing applied sciences. The report exhibits that investments, which had tripled from 2021 to 2024, peaking at $4.7 billion in Q3 2024, have now stagnated, with power and trade expenditures plummeting from $1.27 billion in Q3 2024 to only $445 million by Q3 2025.

The report additionally covers how Trump administration led modifications to funding have impacted native tasks, together with the commercial effectivity tasks on the Cleveland-Cliffs Company in Middletown, OH, workforce growth programming led by Landforce in Pittsburgh, PA, long run delays to a coal to photo voltaic venture in Nicholas County, WV, and impacts to the event of a battery manufacturing facility led by Sparkz Inc. in cooperation with the United Mine Employees of America in Taylor County, WV.

“The Inflation Discount Act and Infrastructure Funding and Jobs Act introduced unprecedented funding and job creation to communities throughout our area,” mentioned Diana Polson, report co-author. “We documented $9.85 billion in power and trade investments, $18.8 billion in clear power manufacturing, and $22.3 billion in retail purchases of fresh applied sciences since 2022. These have been reworking our communities, creating good-paying jobs that don’t require school levels. Now we’re watching these alternatives slip away as federal funding flatlines.”

Rike Rothenstein, report co-author, added: “The info tells a stark story. Clear power manufacturing grew from almost nothing in 2018 to substantial investments by 2023, with 72% going to battery manufacturing and 19% to zero-emissions automobiles. However the momentum has stopped. Federal clear power investments waned dramatically as President Trump took workplace for his second time period, and the proposed One Huge Lovely Invoice Act threatens to dismantle remaining applications completely. From a canceled furnace improve at Cleveland-Cliffs’ metal plant in Middletown, Ohio, to a stalled photo voltaic venture on former mine land in Nicholas County, WV, our case research present how these cuts impression our communities.”

“What’s notably devastating is that almost all of threatened jobs are in development and manufacturing, precisely the sort of blue-collar work our communities want,” mentioned Dana Kuhnline, report co-author. “These investments have been focusing on locations like Appalachia which have been left behind. The chaotic efforts to dismantle them can have notably devastating impacts right here, elevating residential power costs, sabotaging job creation, and ceding America’s management in clear power to international opponents.”

Key findings from the report embody:

• Clear power investments dropped from a peak of $4.7 billion in Q3 2024 to $3.8 billion in Q1 2025, with continued flatlining via Q3 2025
• Power and trade expenditures plummeted 65% from their peak, from $1.27 billion to $445 million
• 67% of projected clear power jobs within the area (over 61,000 jobs) are actually in danger
• Federal funding decreased considerably because the Trump administration took workplace, reversing positive factors from historic local weather laws
• Nationwide information from the Federal Reserve corroborates regional tendencies, displaying non-public development spending in manufacturing plateaued at $240 billion in mid-2024 after tripling from 2021

The evaluation predicts that the One Huge Lovely Invoice Act (OBBBA) will increase residential power costs, sabotage job creation, and cede America’s management in clear power and manufacturing to international opponents, with Appalachian communities bearing the brunt of those impacts.

“In lower than a 12 months, we have now seen the historic development of the clear power and manufacturing sectors drop to a flat line,” the report concludes. “Our area was set to create 92,282 jobs due to clear power investments. Now these alternatives are vanishing earlier than our eyes.”

The complete report, together with detailed state-by-state breakdowns and quarterly funding monitoring, is offered right here.