Investor Watch: August 1, 2024

LOUISIANA

The state’s new leader of economic development is here to “blow it up.”

SOUTH AMERICA

Stellantis and Great Wall Motors are among the companies looking to grow their footprints in the country.

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REI’s new 400,000-sq.-ft. facility in Tennessee employs 275 people and complements other distribution centers in Bedford, Pennsylvania; Goodyear, Arizona; and Sumner, Washington.

Photo by Ford Photography courtesy of REI

Outdoor retailer REI Co-op this week announced its newest distribution center in Lebanon, Tennessee, earned LEED v4 Platinum certification from the U.S. Green Building Council. “This achievement marks the first certified facility of its kind in Tennessee and the largest LEED Platinum industrial building in the Southeast,” the co-op said in a release. “REI joins an elite group of only 10 warehouse facilities in the country to achieve this rating.” The company noted that design and technology elements at the Lebanon building “were inspired from the co-op’s Goodyear facility, which was the first distribution center in the U.S. to achieve both LEED Platinum certification and Net Zero Energy.” Site Selection talked to REI’s vice president of supply chain about that Arizona project in 2017.

A tariff almost went into effect today that would penalize U.S. ports at the same time it penalizes Chinese makers of ship-to-shore cranes. That’s because no domestic manufacturer yet exists.

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Map image courtesy of Third Way

Last week the advocacy organization Third Way released “When America Leads: Communities Shaping US Clean Energy Competitiveness,” an online map and database that “tells the story of how clean energy and related investments are shaping communities across the United States.”

The project is informed by a September 2022 Boston Consulting Group (BCG) report (with a second installment released in March 2023) commissioned by Third Way and Breakthrough Energy that examined U.S. competitiveness and the potential economic benefits of American leadership in clean energy industries. The new report covers advanced nuclear and small modular reactors; carbon capture, utilization, and storage; clean steel; direct air carbon capture; electric vehicles and batteries; geothermal energy; long-duration energy storage; low-carbon hydrogen; offshore wind; and solar. It also adds semiconductors to the mix. That said, “given the vast scope of clean energy investments across the United States, the database is not exhaustive,” Third Way says. “Its objective is to provide a representative overview of significant and promising investments in clean energy across the country in sectors critical to U.S. competitiveness.”

“We decided to limit the map to projects that had a high likelihood of completion based on activity since their announcement (i.e. investment, breaking ground, progress in the permitting process, etc.),” explains Mary Sagatelova, Third Way’s senior advocacy advisor on climate & energy, in an email. “While there are many maps tracking every clean energy investment, our goal is to fill a unique niche by telling compelling stories about the energy transition’s impact on American communities and our competitiveness in the global clean energy marketplace. Our intent is to update the project regularly.”

Among those other resources to triangulate with Third Way’s: Rhodium Group and MIT’s Clean Investment Monitor; And E2, whose data were analyzed in this space around this time last year.

Photo courtesy of TVA

Browns Ferry, TVA’s first and largest nuclear power plant that produces around 20% of TVA’s total generation capacity, today marks exactly 50 years of service. The plant in Athens, Alabama (pictured), which today employs 1,500 people, launched operation of Unit 1 on August 1, 1974. “At the time Unit 1 started commercial operation, Browns Ferry’s three reactors were the first units in the world capable of producing more than 1,000 megawatts — or 1 billion watts of power,” TVA explains. “Today, Browns Ferry generates up to 3,954 MW of carbon-free baseload energy, enough electricity to power more than 2 million homes and businesses across the Tennessee Valley region.”

TVA continues to make investments and improvements to the plant. Browns Ferry is the first TVA nuclear power plant to submit an application for subsequent license renewal to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to allow all three units to continue operation for an additional 20 years after the current licenses expire in 2033, 2034 and 2036. “Our continued investment in Browns Ferry is a reflection of our commitment to providing an affordable, reliable, and clean energy future,” said Jeff Lyash, TVA President and CEO. “We believe nuclear energy will play a critical role in our region and nation’s energy future.”