Job's Not Done: How to Make the Inflation Reduction Act Work for the Long Haul

The Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) set a lot of clean energy progress in motion. We can see it happening: more solar panels are going up, more electric cars (EVs) are on the road, and manufacturing for this new hardware is returning to the U.S. That’s all good.

But it's just a start. An engineer knows you don't just build the engine; you have to build the whole car and make sure it runs for years, not just off the lot.

If we're serious about upgrading our energy systems, we have a couple of big engineering problems left to solve to secure America's energy independence.

First, we need to plug more of our economy into the electrical grid. Second, we have to keep the lights on with reliable power when the sun isn't shining and the wind isn't blowing. The current law gives us a push, but it won’t get us to a truly reliable and independent energy system without key adjustments to its policy..

What Is the Inflation Reduction Act? A Breakdown of Its Clean Energy Goals

The Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) was designed to make clean energy more affordable—plain and simple. At its core, the law uses clean energy tax credits and financial incentives to lower the cost of renewable technologies like solar panels, wind turbines, and energy storage like batteries.

But it doesn’t stop there. The IRA also supports companies that manufacture this technology right here in the U.S.—a move that’s as much about energy independence as it is about economic growth.

Think of it as a modern industrial strategy: directing billions of dollars toward building a cleaner, more resilient energy future.

The IRA's Two Critical Goals: Electrification and Long-Duration Energy Storage

To truly finish the job, we have to focus on two massive undertakings.

• Electrifying Everything: This is about switching from burning fuel directly in our machines to using electricity. Think of swapping gasoline cars for EVs or pulling out natural gas furnaces and water heaters for modern electric heat pumps. The objective? Run our transportation, homes, and industries on clean electricity from the grid.

• Solving the Energy Storage Problem: Solar and wind are now some of the cheapest energy sources available, but they are intermittent. Today’s lithium-ion batteries work well for a few hours, but they fall short when it comes to powering a nation overnight or across cloudy, windless days.

That’s where long-duration energy storage comes in. We need technologies that can store energy for 10, 24, or even 72+ hours. Solutions like flow batteries, compressed air storage, or thermal storage systems are promising, but they need serious investment to scale. Without reliable, long-duration storage, a renewable-powered grid can’t function as a dependable backbone for the economy.

Three Major Problems Holding Back the Inflation Reduction Act

The IRA has a good foundation, but its real-world weaknesses could stop progress cold.

1. Uncertain Tax Credit Timelines: The biggest issue is that the IRA's tax credits have expiration dates. Major energy projects, especially new types of storage facilities, take five to ten years to plan, permit, and build. No company will sink a billion dollars into a project if they think the government will pull the rug out from under them. We need long-term policy stability, not a stopwatch.

2. The Wrong Tools for New Storage Technology: The current credits work well for standard solar panels and batteries. But they aren't tailored for the novel long-duration energy storage technologies that need a bigger push to get built the first time. It's expensive and risky to be the first to build a new design at scale, and the current rules don't do enough to lower that initial barrier.

3. The Grid Modernization Bottleneck: We can build all the clean power generators we want, but the electricity is useless if we can't get it to customers. Our electrical grid is an old, creaky system that needs massive upgrades. Right now, the interconnection queue to get a new energy project approved and connected can take five years or more. The IRA put some money toward grid modernization, but not nearly enough to fix this bottleneck.

Four Ways to Improve the Inflation Reduction Act's Energy Policy

Here are four practical improvements to make the law more effective.

1. Extend the Clean Energy Tax Credit Timelines: First, extend the timelines for the IRA tax credits. Remove the planned phase-outs and give the industry a solid 10-to-15-year window of certainty. This allows companies to make long-term investments without political guesswork.

2. Create a Specific Incentive for Long-Duration Storage: We need a separate, dedicated incentive (like a tax credit) for long-duration storage technologies. This would properly reward these projects for the critical reliability they add to the grid. It’s not just about producing energy; it’s about having it there when you need it most.

3. Get Serious About Grid Modernization and Permitting: This is a plumbing problem. We need more capacity. We must put serious funding and focused incentives into upgrading the grid and fixing the absurdly long wait times for new projects. This means investing in new transmission lines and reforming the permitting process.

4. Make "Made in America" Rules Practical: The goal of building a domestic supply chain is the right one. But the rules must be realistic for new technologies that rely on global components. We should create a clear, phased-in path for new industries to meet the domestic content goals, not punish them for not having a full U.S. supply chain on day one.

The Economic and Security Benefits of a Stronger Inflation Reduction Act

Fixing these issues isn’t just about being green; it's about smart economics and national security.

A stable, predictable policy environment encourages companies to invest and hire. Building our own energy equipment and upgrading our grid means more good-paying jobs for engineers, electricians, and factory workers right here in America.

It also means we are less dependent on foreign countries for our energy, which insulates us from global conflicts and price shocks. In the long run, building an efficient system powered by fuel that costs nothing—the sun and the wind—will lead to more stable and affordable energy bills for everyone.

Final Thoughts: Finishing the Job the Inflation Reduction Act Started

Here’s the bottom line: the Inflation Reduction Act is a powerful first step, but it’s not the complete solution. It’s a starting tool—not a finished blueprint—for a massive engineering and economic undertaking.

Washington must now provide the long-term stability and policy consistency the energy industry needs to finish the job. For those of us on the ground, the mission is clear: keep designing, building, and deploying the real-world technology that turns potential into progress.

The technical capability is in place; what we need now is the policy commitment to see it through.

Curious for more information? Reach out to us today and lets talk!

Two workers fixing a Solar Panel