ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — After Congress passed the Inflation Reduction Act, multiple green energy companies in New Mexico announced they were going to expand their operations.

U.S. Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm made a stop in the state Friday. She was joined by U.S. Sens. Martin Heinrich and Ben Ray Luján as they celebrated Array Technologies’ expansion to Albuquerque’s West Side.

“You are becoming this hub for clean energy manufacturing and, to me, this is important because when you think about the next generation of workers having future-facing jobs, it’s so very important,” Granholm said.

Array is a solar manufacturer that has patented a tracker that helps solar panels follow the sun and increase their energy production. With the Inflation Reduction Act approved, these companies can also increase their production.

“We are seeing a manufacturing renaissance in the United States of America,” Heinrich said.

“Revolutionizing the way we create job opportunities right here at home, all across the country, and we are very proud of that,” Luján said.

The next question is – will the green companies be able to fill the job openings?

“I think there will be some hiring challenges,” said Kevin Hostetler, CEO of Array. “We are more focused about people in the field, assembling the systems and operations, so it’s about the boom in construction of these sites and utilities – solar, in particular.”

Granholm did point out that a big part of the Inflation Reduction Act was also to incentivize apprenticeship programs to make sure colleges and universities are building the workforce needed to expand the green energy field.