Mike Kelly: Kansas City region has a big chance to grow its economy. We can’t miss it | Opinion

One year after adoption of the federal Inflation Reduction Act, the Kansas City metropolitan area is off to a strong start in leveraging this landmark legislation to drive significant public-private investment in our communities. These investments can — and should — transform the region, bringing good jobs and laying the foundation for inclusive economic growth. However, realizing that potential will require a major increase in ongoing effort by the public and private sectors working closely with community partners.

The Inflation Reduction Act, which was signed into law a year ago by President Joe Biden, represents the largest federal investment ever in several major segments of the U.S. economy, including power, transportation, construction and agriculture. It provides nearly $370 billion over 10 years in incentives for energy and climate-related programs, including:

• Clean electricity production and investment tax credits, as well as grants and loans for clean energy infrastructure.
• Clean energy tax credits, rebates and financing to consumers to make buildings more energy efficient and purchase electric vehicles.
• Tax credits, research loans and grants to private businesses to increase domestic manufacturing capacity for wind turbines, solar panels, batteries, electric vehicles and energy storage.
• Clean manufacturing tax credits to reduce emissions in energy intensive industries.
• Programs to reduce the environmental impact of agriculture.

The Kansas City region, led by the nonprofit Climate Action KC and numerous regional public sector partners, has laid out a blueprint of initiatives that can be taken to address the climate crisis. The IRA provides the resources to help expedite implementation of many of the plan’s key elements.

We recognize that a clean electric grid is essential to decarbonizing the construction, transportation and industrial sectors. Based on the IRA’s tax credits for wind, solar and energy storage, we can move quicker toward a cleaner grid.

Smarter construction techniques reduce energy bills

Buildings represent our region’s largest source of carbon emissions, and by making them more efficient, we will not only make them more comfortable for occupants — especially as our winters are getting colder and our summers hotter — but we can also help reduce the energy bill burden for low-income households. The launch of the Building Energy Exchange KC, a partnership between Climate Action KC and the Mid-America Regional Council to make buildings more energy efficient, also gives our region a leg up in taking advantage of the various IRA incentives, whether they be rebates, tax credits or financing.

Leveraging these federal investments gives us a clear opportunity to create good jobs, whether it is contractors and electricians fixing buildings, installing solar panels and electric vehicle charging infrastructure, or the supply chain associated with clean energy such as the new Panasonic battery plant in De Soto.

The next few months are critical. More opportunities are coming available through $4.6 billion in competitive grants that the region can apply for from the IRA’s Climate Pollution Reduction Grant and $27 billion in financing that will soon be available from the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund. However, these will be prioritized to regions that have projects ready to go.

A year ago, the federal government made an unprecedented commitment to enhancing regional growth by facilitating investment in our communities. However, realizing the enormous potential of this program to advance economic development for our metropolitan region requires significant ongoing effort and collaboration by both public and private parties. Our local and state governments will need to dedicate staff to this effort, and the private sector will need to provide leadership and financial support to help develop the ideas that will attract federal investments. Working together with community partners, we can create a future that has never been brighter.