Leslie Ritchie Robnett, special counsel at Duane Morris. Courtesy photo
President Joe Biden announced a new slew of authorizations set on reshaping the energy industry under the Cold War-era Defense Production Act (DPA). Announced on March 31, the first measure seeks to increase America’s own supply of critical materials needed to produce batteries. The second measure, announced on June 6, 2021, aims to bolster the American manufacturing of five critical clean energy technologies:
- Solar panel parts like photovoltaic modules and module components; Building insulation;
- Heat pumps, which heat and cool buildings super efficiently;
- Equipment for making and using clean, electricity-generated fuels, including electrolyzers, fuel cells and related platinum group metals; and
- Critical power grid infrastructure like transformers.
What does this mean for the energy industry energy? Only time will tell. But in order to anticipate how the Biden administration will use the DPA to affect policy change over the next year, a better understanding of the DPA’s mechanics is in order.
