2023-04-17
Bob Fesmire
With the passage of the Inflation Recovery Act of 2022 (IRA), the United States is poised to make generational investments in critical energy infrastructure. The Act calls for funding in support of domestic energy production and manufacturing with an eye toward reducing carbon emissions by roughly 40 percent by 2030. In all, the IRA provides $369 billion for energy security and climate change mitigation measures over the next ten years.
This is welcome news for US manufacturers and gives ABB confidence to invest $170 million in 2023 in manufacturing capacity, distribution systems and technology innovation to bring products and services closer to US customers and address rising energy costs.
ABB is committed to meeting this challenge head-on, by investing in its electrification and automation businesses that meet increased customer demand, while also creating a more secure supply chain and strengthening local manufacturing. For example, ABB recently announced a greenfield project in Wisconsin to increase US production capacity of industrial electric drives.
US firms are keen to avoid the supply chain woes precipitated by the pandemic, some of which still linger in certain sectors. Consumer demand has surged post-Covid, further incentivizing companies—manufacturers in particular—to build up local production capacity. ABB is experiencing this firsthand. Recently, the company announced investments across the US to be made this year, ranging from new manufacturing facilities to new distribution and service centers and expanded R&D operations.
“More than ever before, ABB is designing and producing products domestically to serve our US customers as they move toward more sustainable electric power generation, clean energy manufacturing, electric transportation, industrial efficiency, and carbon capture and storage, as well as methane emissions reduction,” says Mike Plaster, Executive Vice President & Lead Business Manager, ABB Electrification US and ELDS Leader.
He also notes that 85% of the company’s US production currently goes to its 14,000 domestic customers. With technologies that improve energy efficiency, increase reliability of power systems, detect methane emissions, and improve worker safety, ABB can help US companies meet their reliability and sustainability goals as well as IRA requirements for local content and manufacturing.
“The United States is critical to ABB’s success as a market that will continue to grow and benefit from our product portfolio that enables the transition to a more energy-efficient future,” predicts ABB’s Plaster. With its ongoing investment in America, ABB is well positioned to support the transition envisioned by the IRA and US customers.
ABB has long been a player in the US market, having first arrived in 1922 with American Brown Boveri Electric Corporation. Today, the US represents ABB’s largest market with nearly a quarter of company revenue and employs nearly 20,000 workers.
