It’s the Inflation Reduction Act’s 6-month anniversary and the numbers are in — since then, there have been more than 100,000 clean energy jobs created and a grand total of $89.5 billion in investments — according to a new report from Climate Power. These stats show how the IRA has helped kickstart a flywheel of electric growth, making clean energy that much more attainable and actionable for every household in America. This growth is all the more astounding considering one in three registered voters have heard nothing about the IRA.

Our IRA calculator can give you an estimate of how many electrical bucks could be coming your way, but our trusty tool can’t actually install that new heat pump for you. That’s where people take over. We want to highlight the individuals and groups doing the everyday work of electrification. At Rewiring America, we estimate, we’re going to need one million electricians over the next decade. Who are the people who will fill these jobs, helping us wire our homes and communities? We’d like to introduce you to one of them.

As a child growing up in Meridian, Mississippi, Tonya Hicks shadowed her Uncle Melvin, an industrial mechanic, as he worked. Not many 8-year-olds can rebuild a motor from the ground up. Being part of the “not many’s” became a consistent theme in Hicks’ life: Not many women pursuing mathematics, not many women working as electricians, not many women-owned construction businesses.

Her interest in the electrical field took real shape during a summer job at a local paper mill, where she observed industrial electricians using math as part of their work. She saw her path and charged forward. Hicks completed the intensive five-year electrician training apprenticeship, earning the status of wireman electrician in the elite International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW). She was the first woman to gain entrance to her local chapter, IBEW 917, and the first African American woman to earn the title in the state of Mississippi.

In an interview on the My Climate Journey podcast, Hicks spoke about the passage of the IRA, saying, “I think it’s a game changer….(I’m) really looking forward to educating and helping people transition into using electric, rather than gas.”

*Tonya Hicks is President and CEO of Power Solutions, Inc. and Managing Principal of Women Do Everything, LLC.*

State by numbers

Arizona • With solar panel tax credits protected under the IRA, a previously stalled solar panel plant project in Goodyear, AZ is back on track.

Georgia • Automaker Hyundai is investing billions in a battery plant outside of Atlanta that will supply batteries for the company’s electric vehicles.

Pennsylvania • The land of coal and steel is set to flip that script with a projected 200,000 jobs in clean energy over the next decade.

West Virginia • Electric school buses? We are here for it. GreenPower Motor announced plans to manufacture a line of all-electric school buses in their newly acquired West Charleston facility.

From the wire

⚡ VIPs = Very ImportantNotImportant Partners! In November, we launched an electrification series with our good buddies at ImportantNotImportant. The latest issue spills the tea on 🌎⚡️ The best water heater you can buy - fire up your electric kettle and read on!

⚡ Rebates for home energy upgrades are coming soon. Here’s how to plan, Canary Media

⚡ Everything you need to know about the wild world of heat pumps, MIT Technology Review

⚡ New Jersey plans to require all new cars be zero emission by 2035, says Gov. Murphy, The Philadelphia Inquirer

⚡ Heat Pumps are winning hearts and minds (and warming homes) in Maine. The Washington Post reported the Pine Tree state is embracing the humble heat pump in growing numbers. Buoyed by IRA and state incentive programs, Mainers are adopting the electrical appliance even in the coldest pockets of the state. Not only are heat pumps holding up in frigid temps, they are reducing utility bills, putting more money back into household budgets. As a result, Mr. Heat Pump was feeling the Maine love on Valentine’s Day.