— In the latest episode of “Talking Trade,” energy specialist Emily Pickrell highlights industries and companies likely to benefit from the federal Inflation Reduction Act.
Pickrell is a journalist and energy scholar at the University of Houston and currently writes about energy, politics and technology for Forbes. She says the wide-ranging legislation will benefit suppliers of electricity needed for electric vehicles, among others.
“That’s solar and wind and battery production,” she said. “That’s where a large portion of the benefits are going.”
She notes the legislation contains about $80 billion for certain EVs, with caveats aimed at steering future electric vehicle production away from China and other countries “perceived as unfriendly” to the United States.
“Tesla is an obvious, huge beneficiary of this,” she said. “They have a vertical supply chain; they’ve already thought about these issues in advance.”
She predicts a push toward development of related supply chains in response to the legislation, along with a “broad re-think” in the industry around long-distance supply chains.
Pickrell also discusses the role of EV subsidies included in the bill, and potential impacts on the future of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions. She notes that by 2050, half of all vehicles globally are expected to still run on internal combustion engines. And she adds some of the electricity for EVs is generated by burning coal, contributing to emissions.
“At the University of Houston, there’s a lot of discussion about how one of the limitations of selecting EVs as the desirable transportation solution of choice, is that it effectively shuts down continued research on other solutions such as hydrogen, such as improvements in internal combustion engines,” she said.
Watch the latest episode here: https://www.wisbusiness.com/2022/talking-trade-with-emily-pickrell-energy-scholar-at-the-university-of-houston/
“Talking Trade” is now available in audio form through Apple Podcasts and Google Podcasts. See more episodes and subscribe here: https://www.wisbusiness.com/category/talking-trade/
— Small businesses in Wisconsin landed about $1.1 billion in federal contracts in fiscal year 2021, according to a release from federal officials.
The U.S. Small Business Administration says more than 1,160 businesses in Wisconsin have obtained federal contracting certifications with 839 of those receiving contracts.
The agency also announced the Biden administration exceeded its small business contracting goal for the fiscal year, with $154.2 billion in federal contract dollars going to these companies. That made up 27.2 percent of all contracts, according to the release, and marks an $8 billion increase from the prior fiscal year.
SBA Wisconsin District Director Eric Ness says federal contracting goals “are a floor, not a ceiling.”
“Wisconsin small businesses have plenty of room to participate in the federal marketplace and grow their revenues by selling goods and services to the government,” he said in the release.
The release spotlights a Wisconsin company with a “significant contracting revenue stream” — Oneida Total Integrated Enterprises, an engineering, science and construction management company owned by the Oneida Nation of Wisconsin.
According to the SBA, the company spent nine years in the agency’s business development program. It has been involved with multi-million dollar contracts through the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Air Force and Navy, as well as the EPA, USDA Forest Service and Fish and Wildlife Service.
See more in the release: https://www.wisbusiness.com/2022/u-s-small-business-administration-biden-harris-administration-awards-record-breaking-154-2-billion-in-contracting-to-small-businesses-including-1-1-billion-to-wisconsin-firms/
— A report from the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago shows the dollar value of “good” farmland in much of Wisconsin rose 13 percent between July 2021 and last month.
Over the same period, the Seventh District overall saw a 22 percent increase, reflecting higher levels of demand from buyers. Of the states included in the district that reported data, Wisconsin saw the smallest increase in the value of quality agricultural land.
Between July 2021 and July 2022, increases for other states were: 18 percent in Illinois; 25 percent in Indiana; and 26 percent in Iowa. The report notes information for Michigan was insufficient to include.
The report highlights higher ag product prices playing a role, with June prices for corn, soybeans and milk rising 23 percent, 13 percent and 48 percent over the year, respectively.
“Although momentum from strong farm incomes contributed to higher farmland values, it was uncertain how long this effect would last, given the rising interest rate environment,” report authors wrote.
See the full report: https://www.wisbusiness.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/august-2022-pdf.pdf
— Wisconsin farmers are projected to produce more corn, soybeans, winter wheat and oats this year than in 2021, according to a recent crop report from the USDA.
Corn production in the state is forecast at 555 million bushels, marking a 1 percent increase from last year’s total. Based on conditions at the start of August, the yield is expected to hit 185 bushels per acre, which is five bushels higher than last year, the report shows.
Soybean production is projected to reach 115 million bushels, also up 1 percent from 2021. The yield is expected to be 52 bushels per acre, which is three bushels lower than last year.
Meanwhile, winter wheat has a stronger projection with 20 million bushels, marking a 9 percent increase from 2021. USDA says the yield is forecast at 77 bushels per acre, two bushels more than in 2021.
And oat production for grain, at 3.97 million bushels, is projected to be 5 percent higher than last year. The expected yield is 61 bushels per acre, one bushel lower than last year.
See the full report: https://www.wispolitics.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/220812.pdf
— The seven-day average for new COVID-19 cases in the state remains fairly stable, falling slightly to 1,548 cases per day at latest count.
That’s according to the state Department of Health Services dashboard, which shows the seven-day average has remained below 2,200 cases per day since early February. That’s after the seven-day average reached an all-time high of around 19,000 cases per day in January, amid the initial omicron variant surge.
The latest figures come as the CDC is relaxing its community guidelines for COVID-19 mitigation measures. The agency reportedly says about 95 percent of the U.S. population has some form of protection from the virus now, from either vaccination or prior infection.
Meanwhile, the percent positivity rate for COVID-19 tests in Wisconsin has dipped down in recent days, falling from a recent peak of 15.3 percent on Aug. 4 to 13.9 percent most recently.
But at the same time, more than two-dozen counties spread evenly across Wisconsin remain in the highest category for COVID-19 activity, indicating the virus continues to spread in every region of the state.
The DHS dashboard also shows COVID-19 patient hospitalizations in south central Wisconsin were growing by 22 percent between July 27 and Aug. 9. No significant change was seen for the rest of the state during that period.
And the Wisconsin Hospital Association site shows 540 COVID-19 patients are currently hospitalized in the state, including 75 intensive care patients. While overall hospitalizations have been rising steadily since the start of July, the number of ICU patients hasn’t seen a similar increase.
See more DHS data: https://www.dhs.wisconsin.gov/covid-19/data.htm
See the WHA dashboard: https://www.whainfocenter.com/Covid-19Update
<i>For more of the most relevant news on COVID-19, reports on groundbreaking health research in Wisconsin, links to top stories and more, sign up today for the free daily Health Care Report from WisPolitics.com and WisBusiness.com.</i>
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#TOP STORIES#
# Wisconsin lawmakers in the US House divided over Inflation Reduction Act
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#TOPICS#
# AGRIBUSINESS
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# CONSTRUCTION
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# EDUCATION
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# TECHNOLOGY
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# TRANSPORTATION
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# UTILITIES
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# PRESS RELEASES
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