FACT SHEET: Bidenomics Has Driven $500 Billion in Private Sector Investments Across the Country, Is Growing South Carolina’s Economy From the Middle Out and Bottom Up

President Biden to visit West Columbia, where Enphase Energy is announcing new manufacturing investments and a partnership with Flex, resulting in up to 600 new jobs in South Carolina thanks to Inflation Reduction Act—while West Columbia Congressman Joe Wilson voted to repeal the Inflation Reduction Act and block his constituents from jobs and opportunity

President Biden’s economic agenda—Bidenomics—is growing the American economy from the middle out and the bottom up, not the top down. Tomorrow, President Biden will announce that companies have committed over $500 billion in manufacturing and clean energy investments in the United States since the beginning of his Administration. The President will visit South Carolina, where companies have announced $11 billion in manufacturing and clean energy investments, and the Biden-Harris Administration has already awarded $2.6 billion in funding for infrastructure projects. The President will highlight that Enphase Energy is joining a growing list of companies beginning clean energy manufacturing operations in the United States—mobilized directly by President Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act—creating 1,800 new jobs nationwide, including up to 600 new jobs in South Carolina between Enphase and its manufacturing partner, Flex.

However, if Republicans in Congress—including every Republican Member of the House of Representatives from South Carolina—had their way, South Carolina would have lost out on billions of dollars in investments, jobs, and opportunity.

• Since President Biden took office, companies have announced $11 billion in manufacturing and clean energy investments in South Carolina.
  
  • Every South Carolina Republican Member of the House of Representatives who was in office at the time, including Joe Wilson, voted against the American Rescue Plan, the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, the Inflation Reduction Act, and the CHIPS and Science Act. And Republican Members of the House voted to overturn the Inflation Reduction Act’s clean energy tax credits in April 2023—doubling down on their opposition at a time when manufacturers were investing in their state.
• An analysis from the Financial Times highlighted how South Carolina was among the top two states with the highest number of new manufacturing projects since President Biden signed the Inflation Reduction Act and the CHIPS and Science Act into law.
  
  • Every South Carolina Republican Member of Congress, including both Senators, voted against the Inflation Reduction Act, and nearly every South Carolina Republican Member of Congress voted against the CHIPS and Science Act—laws which have driven the surge in manufacturing investments and projects in their own state and districts.
• Enphase Energy is announcing they’re investing over $60 million to open up six new manufacturing lines in the United States, along with significant capital investments from its manufacturing partners. The company is creating up to 1,800 jobs that will help build America’s clean energy supply chains and help power up to one million homes per year with solar, as a result of President Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act. Two of these new lines will be in South Carolina with global diversified manufacturer Flex. Enphase’s expanded production with Flex has the potential to add up to 600 new jobs between both companies in South Carolina.
  
  • Representative Joe Wilson—who represents the area benefitting from Enphase’s investment spurred by the Inflation Reduction Act, said the law was passed “to the detriment of American families” and called it a “waste” of money. Representative Wilson also voted as recently as April to overturn the clean energy tax credits from the Inflation Reduction Act, which have mobilized investments in his home district, including by Enphase.

And if most South Carolina Republican Members of Congress had their way, the state would have lost out on over $2.6 billion in infrastructure funding and nearly $1 billion in funding for high-speed internet for South Carolina:

• Nearly $1 billion in funds were awarded to South Carolina to deliver affordable, high-speed internet to every South Carolinian under the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, using Made in America materials:
  
  • Representative William Timmons, who represents Greenville and Spartanburg Counties, where thousands of South Carolinians lack access to high speed internet, voted against the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, said it would do “nothing of the sort” to connect Americans to high-speed internet, and said instead it was a “Socialist spending spree.”
• The Federal Aviation Administration awarded $5 million to the Columbia Metropolitan Airport for a terminal expansion that will reduce travel times and bring the current security checkpoint up to TSA standards.
  • Representative Joe Wilson, whose district is benefitting from the airport upgrade, said that the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law was “rife with wasteful spending.”
• The Charleston Area Regional Transportation Authority area received nearly $26 million to build and repair clean energy transportation infrastructure.
  • Representative Nancy Mace congratulated the South Carolina organization on winning the funding after voting against the legislation that made the investment possible—saying the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law was a “down payment on the Green New Deal.”
• The Department of Agriculture awarded $2.5 million to Georgetown County for watershed and flood prevention operations on Sandy Island.
  • Senator Tim Scott said the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law includes “reckless spending on unrelated pet projects.”
• The U.S. Department of Transportation awarded the City of Clemson $3.9 million to buy new, zero-emission electric buses that will improve service reliability and air quality in the city.
  • Representative Jeff Duncan, who represents Clemson, voted against the bill, falsely claiming “only $1 out of every $4 in this bill goes towards things people would describe as ‘infrastructure.’”

Also in South Carolina:

• BMW is investing $1 billion in Spartanburg to prepare for the production of battery electric vehicles and an additional $700 million to build a new high-voltage assembly facility in Woodruff.
  • Representative Ralph Norman, whose district is adjacent to the projects, said he “love[d] to see high-voltage batteries for electric vehicles being assembled in the USA, and over 300 jobs being brought to South Carolina,” yet voted against the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and the Inflation Reduction Act, which include critical provisions that have spurred companies to invest in battery manufacturing in the United States. Rep. Norman even claimed the Inflation Reduction Act would spend billions on “nonsense” and “ineffective climate programs.”
  • Senator Lindsay Graham said “when they write the chapter of electrification of the vehicle in the United States, South Carolina, the book, we’ll be in the first chapter,” yet voted against the Inflation Reduction Act aimed at building, expanding, and onshoring electric vehicle production in the United States.
• Redwood Materials is investing $3.5 billion—the largest investment in the state’s history—to build a battery materials facility just outside of Charleston, creating an expected 1,500 new jobs and supporting the state’s growing electric vehicle and battery supply chain.
  • Senator Tim Scott celebrated the Redwood Materials announcement, while opposing the Inflation Reduction Act aimed at bringing more clean energy investments like that of Redwood to the United States. Senator Scott—after saying the bill would “put the American Dream further out of reach for families”—said he was “excited to see the work begin” on the EV battery plant.
• Envision AESC will build a battery cell Gigafactory in Florence County through a $810 million investment that is expected to create 1,100 new jobs.
  
  • Representative Russell Fry, who represents Florence County, said the announcement was “exciting news” and celebrated the fact that it was “one of the largest economic development announcements ever” for the county. Yet less than a year ago, Fry called the Inflation Reduction Act “horrible” and not “in line with helping the American people.”

###