Witnesses urge battery sector roadmaps, offtake and recycling to anchor clean-tech manufacturing in California
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Summary
Experts at the Senate hearing said California risks exporting the manufacturing jobs tied to battery innovation and urged sector-specific roadmaps, coordinated state procurement or offtake agreements, and recycling capacity to anchor a domestic battery supply chain.
Panelists told the Select Committee that batteries present one of the clearest opportunities to align climate and industrial policy—but only if California addresses scale-up and demand risk.
Jake Higdon of California Forward said California often is the inventor and the market for technologies but misses the middle stage of scale-up. He pointed to U.S. Department of Energy grant allocations as evidence: "Of 67 grants totaling nearly $8,000,000,000 for battery and EV manufacturing, 2 small recycling demonstrations were awarded to California," he said, adding that California received about $13,000,000 of that funding.
Priyanka Mohanty, executive director of the Center for Manufacturing a Green Economy, said industrial policy tools range from loan guarantees and joint ventures to state procurement and local content requirements. "Climate action that is not paired with economic benefits is socially invisible and politically fragile," Mohanty said, arguing that pairing manufacturing investments with workforce and equity strategies can broaden support and affordability.
Tom Hintze of the UAW recommended combining public financing and procurement with strong labor and environmental conditions to build a closed-loop battery economy that includes recycling capacity and in-state material processing. He suggested off-take agreements with domestic lithium producers to guarantee demand, de-risk investment and stabilize prices for downstream manufacturers.
Panelists also flagged recycling and heat-pump manufacturing as opportunities for public procurement to support in-state supply chains. No formal legislation was enacted in the hearing; witnesses advocated for developing sector roadmaps and aligning existing state investments behind clear, measurable roadmaps.