WASHINGTON, D.C. – The U.S. Department of Energy today announced the first ever award recipients of its Domestic Manufacturing Conversion Grant Program. The Inflation Reduction Act-funded program is a first-of-its-kind effort to provide direct grants to recently closed or at-risk facilities and funds the retooling efforts needed to transform production lines that were building internal combustion engine vehicles and parts into production lines building electric vehicles (EVs) and parts.

The announcement includes 11 awardees receiving a total of $1.7 billion in funding. These at-risk auto manufacturing and assembly facilities span across eight states—Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Maryland, and Virginia.

In response to the award announcement, the BlueGreen Alliance released the following statement from Executive Director Jason Walsh:

“This program is fundamentally about reinvesting in the communities that built the vehicles we drive today and supporting them to build the vehicles of the future, illustrating what it means to put working people first in the fight against climate change. By directing awards to companies making and following through on significant commitments to their workers, the Domestic Manufacturing Conversion Grant Program will shape an EV future powered by high quality, union jobs that enrich the communities where they’re located. All climate policy should look like this.

“We look forward to working with the administration to ensure that workers and their communities receive the greatest possible benefit from this historic funding.”