President Joe Biden signs the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 at the White House on Aug. 16, 2022.
Mandel Ngan | Afp | Getty Images
President Biden signed the Inflation Reduction Act into law on August 16, 2022. In the almost-year since the historic climate bill was passed, 270 new clean energy projects have been announced with investments totaling $130 billion, according to a tally from Bank of America.
Companies that build clean technology and their suppliers will be big winners as energy infrastructure goes through the transition from depending on fossil fuels to decarbonized sources of energy, the note said.
This list includes only stocks that BofA has rated as “buy,” and that have a climate tie-in. (The IRA also included some reforms to prescription drugs, but stocks related to those provisions are excluded here.) Some stocks cross multiple sectors, so are listed more than once.
Renewable energy
The Inflation Reduction Act provides production and investment tax credits for electricity generation and capital investments made in renewable projects. These companies manufacture parts that are used in renewable power construction, like wind blades or the semiconductors used in solar panels, or are in businesses related to the operation and management of these renewable power systems.
Kern County, CA – March 23: LADWPs Pine Tree Wind Farm and Solar Power Plant in the Tehachapi Mountains Tehachapi Mountains on Tuesday, March 23, 2021 in Kern County, CA.(Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)
Irfan Khan | Los Angeles Times | Getty Images
Batteries and energy storage
Improvements to the electric grid
The IRA includes $5 billion in loans for building and improving transmission grid infrastructure, which is needed to continue to deploy clean energy. These companies are either utility grid operators, or create software or parts for operating the electric grid.
Transmission towers are seen at the CenterPoint Energy power plant on July 11, 2022 in Houston, Texas. ERCOT (Electric Reliability Council of Texas) is urging Texans to voluntarily conserve power today, due to extreme heat potentially causing rolling blackouts.
Brandon Bell | Getty Images
Clean fuels and biofuels
Carbon capture
Clean vehicles
The IRA includes tax credits for electric vehicles and provisions designed to boost the production of batteries that go in electric vehicles and the raw materials that go into those batteries. These companies make electric vehicles or component parts for those electric vehicles and their charging infrastructure.
Ford CEO Jim Farley pats a Ford F-150 Lightning truck before announcing at a press conference that Ford Motor Company will be partnering with the world’s largest battery company, a China-based company called Contemporary Amperex Technology, to create an electric-vehicle battery plant in Marshall, Michigan, on February 13, 2023 in Romulus, Michigan.
Bill Pugliano | Getty Images News | Getty Images
Materials, metals and mining
Electric vehicles and renewable energy generation both need specific raw materials. The IRA includes provisions that support production of both electric vehicles and renewable energy sources and also of steel which is used in the production of wind and solar production.
Livent Corp.: Chemical materials company
MP Materials: Metals and mining company
Nucor Corp.: Metals and mining company
Sigma Lithium: Metals and mining company
Industrial companies with building efficiency solutions
The IRA includes provisions to improve the energy efficiency of residential and commercial buildings and these companies provide either energy efficiency equipment or technology to improve the operation of those energy efficiency systems.
The New York City skyline.
SOPA Images | Getty Images
Agriculture and forestry
The IRA includes $19.5 billion for agriculture conservation programs, $5 billion for forest management and restoration and provisions designed to support underserved farmers and landowners. These companies have programs designed to help farmers sequester carbon in the soil or forest management technology.
Nutrien Ltd: Chemicals company
Weyehaeuser: Real estate company