REM: Biden to sign $1.2 trillion bipartisan infrastructure bill, funds modernised grid and ports

US President Joe Biden will sign into law the $1.2 trillion bipartisan infrastructure bill.

The Democrat-led bill was passed by the House of Representatives at almost midnight on November 5 with the help of some moderate Republicans. It had already passed the US Senate, so now goes to Biden for his signature, after which it becomes law.

Biden said on Saturday that he will sign it soon. There are some indications that he will not sign it until next week, when Congress returns from a recess.

The news is significant because the bill contains substantial funding for a modernised grid, which is crucial for moving renewable energy to population and industrial centres and stabilising the flows of electricity.

It also contains funding for ports, vital for easing supply chain bottlenecks, which have especially dogged the US wind industry because of the heavy components used. Upgraded ports are also needed to support the new and fast-growing US offshore wind sector.

Biden hailed the bill and said it would create millions of jobs and improve the domestic economy.

“Together, these once-in-a-generation investments will unlock the full potential of a clean energy economy that combats climate change, advances environmental justice, and creates good-paying, union jobs,” said the White House in a fact sheet.

Specifically, the bill includes $65bn for a modernised electricity grid and long-distance transmission.

“It upgrades our power infrastructure, including by building thousands of miles of new, resilient transmission lines to facilitate the expansion of renewable energy,” said the fact sheet.

It creates a new Grid Deployment Authority, invests in research and development for advanced transmission and electricity distribution technologies, and promotes smart grid technologies that deliver flexibility and resilience, the document continued. It also invests in demonstration projects and research hubs for next-generation technologies like advanced nuclear reactors, carbon capture, and clean hydrogen.

“The bipartisan support for large-scale regional and interregional transmission sends a strong message to the industry and its regulators to get busy planning, permitting and paying for new and expanded lines, and provides a wide variety of support in each of those areas,” said Rob Gramlich, president of Grid Strategies.

The bill also offers $17.4bn for waterway and coastal infrastructure, inland waterway improvements, and port infrastructure. As much as $450mn of that per year for five years would go to the Department of Transportation’s Port Infrastructure Development Programme, said the National Ocean Industries Association (NOIA).

“The bipartisan infrastructure deal is a milestone that will support the ascendant American offshore wind opportunity,” said NOIA President Erik Milito. “Our ports are the gateway to our nation’s offshore wind opportunity. Access to the capital will help ports invest and improve their operational capabilities in support of American offshore wind and the generational opportunity it provides.”

The bill, also known as INVEST in America, is separate from the reconciliation bill, which Democrat leaders say will be heard in the House of Representatives by November 15 and which – in its current version – includes $550bn in climate items such as extended and more widely available production tax credits for wind and solar power.