U.S. Secretary of Energy Jennifer M. Granholm promoted the benefits of clean energy and American production on a recent trip to Michigan and tours of a battery-manufacturing facility and a semiconductor company, the Department of Energy announced recently.
Sec. Granholm and U.S. Rep. Dan Kildee (D-Flint Township) toured Midland, Mich.-based Xalt Energy then went to Hemlock Semiconductor Operations in Hemlock on March 11, DOE announced at the time. During the Michigan visit, Sec. Granholm spoke on the importance the country gaining energy independence by pursuing clean, renewable energy sources, investing in domestic manufacturing and developing secure supply chains, the DOE reports.
After the tours, Sec. Granholm spoke with news reporters about how the Bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, passed by Congress in November, can support the return of solar energy supply chains to Michigan. She also said she has "great hope" that the pending the Solar Energy Manufacturing bill will be passed as well.
"If we take this next step, the sky's the limit," Granholm said at the news conference, according to the DOE. “The solar supply chain that is here in Michigan can also supply other nations," Granholm said in the announcement.
Granholm attributed her confidence in bipartisan support for the bill on the power of financial savings, stating solar power is the "cheapest form of energy."
In a comparison of the costs of electricity to the price of gasoline, Granholm said to fill up with gasoline would "cost me 65 bucks. Maybe. If I plug it into my garage, it would cost about $12 to go the same distance.”
The Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy reports the costs associated with transitioning to using solar energy has gone down every year since 2009, and that your location and electricity consumption determines how much can be saved by using solar energy.
"Money talks," Granholm said in the report. "Regardless of political stripes, people can agree on something like this."
