KKR Sees Renewables Boom Even If IRA Faces Risks in Election

(Bloomberg) -- While the renewables boom is here to stay, the US election in November may leave certain Inflation Reduction Act programs and regulations vulnerable to repeal, according to KKR & Co.’s global head of infrastructure, Raj Agrawal.

Most Read from Bloomberg

• Wells Fargo Fires Over a Dozen for ‘Simulation of Keyboard Activity’

• Apple to ‘Pay’ OpenAI for ChatGPT Through Distribution, Not Cash

• Hunter Biden Was Convicted. His Dad’s Reaction Was Remarkable.

• US Producer Prices Surprise With Biggest Decline Since October

• Tech-Led Rally Props Up Stocks as US Yields Slide: Markets Wrap

“Many of our clients are asking whether we think there is an electoral outcome that will result in the repeal of the Inflation Reduction Act, which is providing hundreds of billions of dollars in funding and tax incentives for clean energy innovation, research and development, and deployment,” Agrawal wrote in a note distributed to clients Thursday.

While it’s unlikely that the IRA will be fully repealed, discretionary spending programs depend on who occupies the White House and Congress can consider IRA tax-code revisions, Agrawal said in the note.

Despite uncertainty regarding public funding and subsidies, “investment in renewables is a structural trend that is not going away,” he said, citing continued demand for clean energy. “Renewable energy capacity has grown for the last 22 years in a row, and the International Energy Agency expects that global capacity will increase more in the next five years than in the century since the first renewable energy power plant was built.”

Agrawal referenced a “flurry of consolidation” as well as the launch or growth of businesses managed by rivals as validating infrastructure as an asset class. Attention to the sector was amplified earlier this year when BlackRock Inc. agreed to buy Global Infrastructure Partners for about $12.5 billion.

Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek

• The Rise and Fall of a $600 Million Strip-Mall Tycoon

• Israeli Scientists Are Shunned by Universities Over the Gaza War

• Grieving Families Blame Panera’s Charged Lemonade for Leaving a Deadly Legacy

• The World’s Most Online Male Gymnast Prepares for the Paris Olympics

• China’s Economic Powerhouse Is Feeling the Brunt of Its Slowdown

©2024 Bloomberg L.P.