The new boss in charge of government relations at US trade association Battery Council International has a lot on her plate with the incoming presidency of Donald Trump and a new Congress in which the Republicans are in control.
Susan Bernard told BEST in an interview her new role – Vice President, Government Relations and Sustainability – is a continuation of her previous work to best represent the industry “regardless of who’s in charge”.
She said: “Obviously we’re going to be watching how both Congress and the President-elect deal with important incentive programmes. Programmes we felt were important over the past recent years.
“For example, battery manufacturing tax incentives through the 45X credits are crucial to supporting our industry. And obviously we’re always looking to strengthen US manufacturing.”
The Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) established a collection of tax credits and incentives supporting domestic clean and renewable energy production. A crucial aspect of that legislation – the Advanced Manufacturing Production Credit under Section 45X – supports the domestic production of equipment and components. They include batteries and inverters, and critical minerals.
BCI’s position that Bernard will be pushing is it is necessary to keep some of those incentives in place, for battery manufacturers, recyclers and component suppliers.
Trump has said he wants to gut the IRA and its tax breaks. Bernard sees a “definite risk” of that happening, so will be paying close attention. Taking back money already committed will be more difficult than clawing back awards for the current fiscal year, she said.
BCI has been in discussions with current and incoming Congress members, several of whom have emphasised the need for Congress to hear from companies benefitting from IRA programmes to try to keep them in place, she added.
BCI has sent a briefing document to Trump’s transition team on the industry’s major priorities. Another is in the pipeline for Congress and will be sent once committee assignments are finalised.
Bernard joined BCI in August 2022 as director of regulatory and technical affairs. This involved advocating at federal and state level on legislation and regulatory matters affecting the battery industry. BCI’s technical programme also came under her remit.
