Westwin Elements (Westwin), a trailblazer in the critical minerals industry, broke ground on a state-of-the-art nickel/cobalt refinery in Lawton, Oklahoma. This landmark facility marks a significant step towards reducing America’s reliance on foreign countries for its raw material supply chain while fostering economic growth and job opportunities in the region.
West Union is a remarkable place. You have taken advantage of one need (to control stormwater) and built on it, adding new ideas to create a more walkable, welcoming downtown. That the project also included the initiative to connect multiple buildings to the Courthouse geothermal system is an inspiration to many municipalities.
Hula is a co-working and innovation campus of reimagined industrial buildings (a former pizza oven factory) on the shore of Lake Champlain. Since 2021, Hula has been heating and cooling year-round with a geothermal loop system.
Three Cuyahoga County school districts are set to split more than $1.3 million in federal funding to install rooftop solar arrays, a move officials say will cut energy costs, allow students hands-on learning opportunities and position the districts as leaders in renewable energy adoption.
With a $129 million federal grant, this solar facility will generate 250 MW of energy-just one MW can power roughly 750 homes at a time.
Smith Family Farms is a bit different. After applying for and receiving a Rural Energy For America Program (REAP) grant, funded by the Inflation Reduction Act, the farm installed a sizable solar array in late 2023. The $250,000 grant covered about 40% of the cost of the array, which has 25 panels arranged in five rows of five, covering about an acre.
A project in rural Minnesota that is critical to improving access to reliable electricity for members of the White Earth Reservation is in jeopardy. And an organization that is helping the tribe with the project is now suddenly shouldering a $1.6 million risk that it never intended to.
Solar panels have been on Anna May Cory’s mind for years. But she worried the expense of installing them would outweigh the long-term cost savings. All that changed last year when Cory found out about thousands of dollars in grants and tax credits available through the Inflation Reduction Act designed specifically to help rural businesses afford to upgrade their buildings to cut energy costs. The 27-room Pines Inn and Suites sits a few miles southwest of Arizona’s famous Sedona red rocks in the 12,000-person town of Cottonwood. Cory moved to the community in search of a rural atmosphere, warmer temperatures and a friendly, small-town experience, which she now helps to foster.
Four Seasons installed its first 1.3-megawatt solar array in 2018, utilizing a 26 percent solar investment tax credit. They recently added a second, 1.7-megawatt array, using the federal tax credit and depreciation at 37 percent. The tax credits that funded these upgrades were made available through the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA).
In March, 2025, the freeze on this program lifted and the first 4 of 50 buses were delivered to Kanawha County School District under funding Round 2 of the EPA’s Clean School Bus Program. To date, 22 have been deployed!