Biden talks up companies' solar-power partnership in South Carolina, criticizes Republicans for opposing green spending

By Victor Reklaitis

President highlights a new manufacturing effort involving Enphase Energy Inc. and Flex Ltd.

President Joe Biden touted his economic record and highlighted a new manufacturing partnership between Enphase Energy Inc. and Flex Ltd. during a visit on Thursday to South Carolina.

"Today, they're shipping their first microinverters made in America -- made in America," Biden said in a speech, referring to devices that convert energy from solar panels to power for homes.

"All told, since I signed the Inflation Reduction Act and the Chips and Science Act into law, companies have announced $11 billion in manufacturing and clean-energy investments just in South Carolina," the president added, as he spoke at Flex's facility in West Columbia, S.C.

He has been talking about his economic platform, dubbed "Bidenomics," as the 2024 political campaign season ramps up. The Inflation Reduction Act is Democratic legislation enacted last year that's aimed in part at addressing climate change, while the Chips and Science Act is a bipartisan 2022 measure focused on domestic semiconductor manufacturing and scientific research.

Enphase (ENPH), a maker of solar-power equipment with its headquarters in Fremont, Calif., is investing more than $60 million to open up six new manufacturing lines in the U.S., with two of the lines in South Carolina with Flex, according to the White House. Enphase is creating up to 1,800 jobs, with up to 600 of them in the Palmetto State, the White House said. Flex (FLEX) is a contract manufacturer domiciled in Singapore and with its headquarters in Austin, Texas.

Related:Enphase Energy's stock jumps after analyst says investors should start buying

Enphase announced initial shipments on Wednesday for its microinverters produced in South Carolina by Flex, saying in a statement that it marks the first production from one of its three contract manufacturing partnerships in the U.S.

Flex CEO Revathi Advaithi said in the statement that her company thanks Biden and Congress for the Inflation Reduction Act, "which has increased interest and demand for clean technology and American manufacturing, as evidenced by today's announcement with Enphase." Enphase CEO Badri Kothandaraman, for his part, said his company appreciates Biden's "support of U.S. companies investing in domestic manufacturing."

No Republicans in the House or Senate voted for the Inflation Reduction Act, as the GOP argued the package wouldn't live up to its name as an inflation-fighting measure. Biden went after Republicans for that move, criticizing them in Thursday's speech.

"Every Republican member of Congress voted against the Inflation Reduction Ace -- every one. Every Republican member of the House in this state voted to repeal the clean-energy provisions of the inflation Reduction Act that attracted all these jobs," the president said.

South Carolina gave Biden his first victory in the 2020 Democratic presidential primary, providing him with much-needed momentum in the contest.

Republicans, meanwhile, have continued to blast Biden for inflation that's persisting.

"We would not be in this inflation crisis if not for Democrats' big spending bills that fueled the labor shortage and gave billions in special interest tax breaks to the wealthy and well-connected, billion-dollar corporations, and big banks," said House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Jason Smith, a Missouri Republican, in a statement earlier this week.

"Inflation was only 1.4 percent when Biden took office. Inflation that is almost double the Federal Reserve's target is not a win for American wallets and budgets."

Now read:Biden's age is figuring 'prominently' in the 2024 White House race -- but here's what the pundits could be getting wrong

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Plus:Here are the Republicans running for president in 2024

-Victor Reklaitis

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07-06-23 1431ET

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