The State of Clean Energy Manufacturing in Q1 2026: Environmental Defense Fund Report

The Environmental Defense Fund (“EDF”) released on May 5th a report titled:

The State of Clean Energy Manufacturing in Q1 2026 (“Report”).

The Report is authored by Tom Taylor and Katherine Shok.

The Report analyzes the following:

• Announced investments and associated jobs for clean energy manufacturing.
• Project cancellations.
• Recent changes in the domestic clean energy manufacturing landscape.

The Report argues that 2025 represented a turning point in clean energy manufacturing in the United States. It cites what it characterizes as a “unprecedented clean energy manufacturing boom” from 2021 to 2024 supported by federal policies that accelerated private investment. The Report states that in contrast, in 2025 growth in clean energy manufacturing largely declined in the wake of the Trump Administration’s policies and congressional cuts to clean energy tax credits.

As to the First Quarter of 2026, the Report states:

• 12 companies announced changes to jobs and/or investments at 21 projects resulting in a net $1.1 billion in investment announced.
• A net loss of 5,900 jobs occurred across 15 states.
• Discrepancy between the positive investment figure and the negative employment figure reflects developments at two battery projects in Georgia and North Carolina, where companies announced job reductions without corresponding decreases in planned investment.

The Report characterizes key findings as including:

• $1.4 billion in cancelled clean energy manufacturing investments.
• $2.5 billion in newly announced investments.
• Net investment of $1.1 billion after cancellations and cutbacks.
• Net loss of 5,900 manufacturing jobs.
• Electric vehicles accounted for the largest share of cancelled investments with 15 percents of announced EV investments cancelled.
• Clean energy manufacturing investment remains concentrated in Georgia, Michigan, and North Carolina.
• Despite continued losses in the EV/battery sectors, companies continued investing in transmission equipment, gird technologies, and solar manufacturing during the Q1.

A copy of the Report can be found here.