Clean Investment in 2023: Assessing Progress in Electricity and Transport

This report by Rhodium Group, MIT CEEPR, REPEAT Project, and Energy Innovation assesses 2023 progress in US clean energy and transportation following the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) and Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA). It finds that zero emission vehicle (ZEV) sales are meeting or exceeding post-IRA projections, while utility-scale clean electricity capacity additions, despite reaching record levels, are lagging behind the projections required to meet 2030 emissions targets.

• Zero emission vehicle (ZEV) sales in the US reached 1.43 million units in 2023, representing 9.2% of total light-duty vehicle sales. This figure is at the high end of post-IRA projections (8.1% to 9.4%) and significantly higher than 2020 projections from the Energy Information Administration, which estimated 580,000 sales for 2023.
• While 2023 saw a record 32.3 GW of zero-carbon electricity generation and storage capacity added to the grid—a 32% increase over 2022—this pace is below the 46 to 79 GW average annual additions projected for 2023-2024 to align with a 40% reduction in net GHG emissions by 2030.
• The 2023 clean electricity additions were primarily driven by solar PV (18.4 GW), battery storage (6.4 GW), and wind (6.3 GW). To stay on track with projections, 60 to 127 GW of capacity must be added in 2024; however, only 60 GW is currently under development with a scheduled 2024 start date, and the report notes that these dates often slip.
• The report identifies that the primary obstacles to clean electricity deployment are no longer cost-related, as the IRA has made renewables competitive with coal and natural gas. Instead, the critical barriers are non-cost factors, including supply chain challenges, backlogged grid interconnect queues, and siting and permitting delays.

APA

Energy Innovation (2024). Clean Investment in 2023: Assessing Progress in Electricity and Transport. https://energyinnovation.org/wp-content/uploads/Clean-Investment-in-2023-Assessing-Progress-in-Electricity-and-Transport.pdf

Chicago

Energy Innovation. Clean Investment in 2023: Assessing Progress in Electricity and Transport. 2024. https://energyinnovation.org/wp-content/uploads/Clean-Investment-in-2023-Assessing-Progress-in-Electricity-and-Transport.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Energy Innovation |title=Clean Investment in 2023: Assessing Progress in Electricity and Transport |date=21 February 2024 |url=https://energyinnovation.org/wp-content/uploads/Clean-Investment-in-2023-Assessing-Progress-in-Electricity-and-Transport.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{energyinnovation2024clean, author = {{Energy Innovation}}, title = {{Clean Investment in 2023: Assessing Progress in Electricity and Transport}}, institution = {Energy Innovation}, year = {2024}, month = feb, url = {https://energyinnovation.org/wp-content/uploads/Clean-Investment-in-2023-Assessing-Progress-in-Electricity-and-Transport.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }