Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act Story Archives - Page 2 of 5

Boston Metal To Receive Grant To Build Chromium Plant In Weirton

The factory, which will employ 200 workers, will produce ultra-pure chromium and high-temperature alloys needed across various clean energy technologies.

CORRECTION: An earlier version of this story misspelled the name of the company.

A federal grant will support a high-tech manufacturing facility and bring jobs to the Northern Panhandle.

The U.S. Department of Energy awarded Boston Metal a $50 million grant to build a chromium plant in Weirton, one of seven sites nationwide selected as part of the Advanced Energy Manufacturing and Recycling Program.

The factory, which will employ 200 workers, will produce ultra-pure chromium and high-temperature alloys needed across various clean energy technologies.

The department awarded a total of $275 million to West Virginia and six other states.

The investment is part of the $1 trillion Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, a 2021 law pushed by U.S. Sens. Joe Manchin and Shelley Moore Capito.

President Joe Biden signed the bill into law two years ago this month.

National And Local Leaders Celebrate W.Va. As Major Part Of Hydrogen Hub

Seventy-nine energy industrial areas applied to be a part of the Regional Clean Hydrogen Hub program. The Appalachian hydrogen hub was one of seven chosen.

Dignitaries gathered to celebrate West Virginia’s selection as the epicenter for the Appalachian hydrogen hub known as ARCH2. The program is part of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act. Both of West Virginia’s U.S. Sens., Democrat Joe Manchin and Republican Shelley Moore Capito, voted for the bill.

Manchin said the nearly $1 billion investment in this region has the potential to stimulate job growth in the state, stabilize the cost of energy and lengthen the life of the coal industry in the state.

“We’re doing everything that we can with the amount of money. It’s close to $1 billion, but with the spin-off effect, it could be $6 billion or greater. The amount of jobs could be up to 20,000 jobs — most of them in West Virginia,” Manchin said.

Hydrogen For Energy Independence

Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm said the federal investment of $7 billion in the seven hydrogen hubs across the nation is projected to generate another $50 billion in investment.

She said for the nation, this is an investment in energy independence that will help make the U.S. and its allies’ economies less vulnerable from energy producing countries like Russia and Iran.

“We want to make sure we are energy independent. We don’t want to have to rely upon energy from countries whose values we don’t share who may weaponize energy. So America is now going to be the place where private sector investment is happening,” Granholm said.

Manchin said this, by means of addition, will help West Virginia hold its place as an energy producer for the nation.

“I’ve said this, you can not eliminate your way to a cleaner environment. Some people say, ‘Oh, don’t produce any oil, don’t produce any gas, don’t produce any more coal, we’re going to do everything with renewables.’ That day may come,” Manchin said. “But I can guarantee you one thing, you better be energy independent, if you want to be energy secure.”

West Virginia Part Of Nearly $1 Billion Regional Hydrogen Hub

President Joe Biden is set to announce the Appalachian Regional Clean Hydrogen Hub later Friday. The hub, also called ARCH2, will include Ohio and Pennsylvania.

West Virginia is among the states receiving funds from the U.S. Department of Energy to create a regional hydrogen hub.

President Joe Biden is set to announce the Appalachian Regional Clean Hydrogen Hub later Friday. The hub, also called ARCH2, will include Ohio and Pennsylvania.

The region will be eligible for as much as $925 million of the $7 billion in total going to seven regional hubs across the country.

The White House projects 18,000 construction jobs and 3,000 permanent jobs resulting from the investment in the Appalachian hub.

Other hubs will be established in the mid-Atlantic, California, the Gulf Coast, the Upper Midwest, the Great Lakes and the Pacific Northwest.

The Appalachian hub will lean on the region’s abundant supply of natural gas to make hydrogen. Of the other hubs, only the Gulf Coast will also use natural gas, called blue hydrogen.

Most of the others will use renewable energy, including wind, solar and hydro, known as green hydrogen.

The Great Lakes hub will use nuclear power, known as pink hydrogen.

Appalachia’s hub will store the carbon dioxide generated from the production process.

The seven hubs are expected to generate three million metric tons of hydrogen annually, which will be used to decarbonize industrial sectors that produce 30 percent of U.S. carbon emissions.

The initiative is projected to cut 25 million metric tons of CO2 each year, part of the Biden administration’s larger goal of cutting emissions to meet the targets of the Paris Agreement.

“With this historic investment,” said Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm in a statement, “the Biden-Harris administration is laying the foundation for a new, American-led industry that will propel the global clean energy transition while creating high quality jobs and delivering healthier communities in every pocket of the nation.”

U.S. Sen. Shelley Moore Capito noted that funding for the hydrogen hubs came from the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act of 2021. Capito participated in the negotiation of that legislation and was key to its Senate passage.

“I consistently supported efforts to help make this project a reality,” she said in a statement. “I’m thrilled for the ARCH2 Team, and am so proud West Virginia will continue its tradition as an innovative, energy-producing state through a regional hydrogen hub.”

ARC Grant To Help Rural Communities Access Federal Funding

The $100,000 ARC award will help the counties and the municipalities expand staffing to better utilize, access, and implement available federal funding through both the America Rescue Plan Act and the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act.

Fayette, Greenbrier, Nicholas, Pocahontas and Webster Counties are splitting a $100,000 grant from the Appalachian Regional Commission (ARC).

The award will help the counties and the municipalities expand staffing to better utilize, access, and implement available federal funding through both the America Rescue Plan Act and the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act.

The commission’s initiative “READY Appalachia” has been working to help underrepresented communities and economically distressed areas increase their capacity to create positive economic change.

ARC is expected to announce additional funding opportunities through READY Appalachia by early 2024.

2 W.Va. Shortline Railroads Get Federal Funding For Upgrades

The Appalachian & Ohio Railroad and the Kanawha River Railroad will receive as much as $16 million and $19 million, respectively.

The U.S. Department of Transportation is giving two West Virginia shortline railroads money for improvements.

The Appalachian & Ohio Railroad and the Kanawha River Railroad will receive as much as $16 million and $19 million, respectively.

That’s from the Federal Railroad Administration’s Consolidated Rail Infrastructure and Safety Improvement Program, made possible by the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act of 2021.

The two railroads will use the money to rehabilitate track, locomotives, bridges and tunnels.

The Appalachian & Ohio operates 158 miles of track between Grafton and Cowen and hauls primarily coal. It interchanges with CSX.

The Kanawha River Railroad operates 385 miles of track from Columbus, Ohio, to Elmore, West Virginia, and hauls coal, chemicals, cement, aggregates and metals. It interchanges with Norfolk Southern and CSX.

The two awards are part of USDOT’s $1.4 billion total investment for 70 projects in 35 states.

Staffing Infrastructure Jobs And Olympic Dreams On This West Virginia Morning

On this West Virginia Morning, our radio series “Help Wanted: Understanding West Virginia’s Labor Force” continues as Curtis Tate takes a look at federal and state perspectives on the problem of finding enough workers with the skills for new infrastructure jobs.

Also, an international volleyball tournament is taking place at the Charleston Coliseum and Convention Center this week and West Virginia University faculty vote against the university’s proposed cuts to programs.

West Virginia Morning is a production of West Virginia Public Broadcasting, which is solely responsible for its content.

Support for our news bureaus comes from Concord University and Shepherd University.

Listen to West Virginia Morning weekdays at 7:43 a.m. on WVPB Radio or subscribe to the podcast and never miss an episode. #WVMorning