The 2024 Election Depends on These Solar-Heavy Swing States

The 2024 presidential election is going to be close.  

Polls indicate a tightening race in the campaign’s final weeks, and the outcome may hinge on a few thousand votes across the swing states.

Given this dynamic, America’s solar and energy storage industry could have an outsized impact on deciding the next president of the United States.

The buildout of the solar and storage industry — specifically the growth of domestic solar manufacturing — is concentrated in swing states like Arizona, Georgia, Pennsylvania, Nevada, and North Carolina. In fact, one study from the Energy Innovation found that swing states will host 48% of newly announced clean energy manufacturing projects.  

These projects, the billions invested, and the tens of thousands of jobs created will certainly affect voters’ attitudes. And, as issues like inflation and domestic manufacturing rise to the top of voters’ priority lists, the case for incentivizing solar and storage is a potent political argument. 

Here’s how the growth of solar could determine election outcomes in battleground states this November.  

Arizona

As Arizonans go to the polls this fall, supporting solar will be a top priority. 

According to new battleground state polling from SEIA, solar is the most popular energy source in Arizona. More than 8 in 10 believe that solar is good for the state’s economy, and 70% believe solar can help, “replace many of the manufacturing and blue-collar jobs that the country has lost over the last few decades.”  

A whopping 95% of Arizonans believe that we need to develop new manufacturing industries in the United States, making this a strong bipartisan priority throughout the state.   

Arizonans are already seeing the economic power of the solar and storage industry — especially in the state’s swing counties. Nextracker and Atkore expanded their tracker factory in the Phoenix area, KORE Power is investing in a battery manufacturing plant in Buckeye, and Amphenol Industrial opened a new facility for solar junction boxes in Mesa earlier this year.  

All three investments have been built in Maricopa County since 2020, when the county divisively swung toward President Biden and delivered him the state’s 11 electoral votes.  

Nevada

In Nevada, solar and the candidates that support it are far more popular than the alternatives.   

The vast majority (81%) of Nevadans agree that their utility should get more of its power from solar. Nearly three-quarters of Nevada voters support utility-scale solar projects in their communities and 80% say solar is good for the state’s economy.  

The political power of solar also extends to the solar champions running for office.  

In a hypothetical matchup between a Democrat who supports pro-solar policies and a Republican who opposes them, the Democrat leads by 26 points — a 22-point boost over the generic ballot. Among GOP voters, a Republican who supports solar power has a 25-point advantage over a Republican who opposes these policies. 

Pennsylvania 

Pennsylvania voters take pride in their history as an energy leader and, in the last four years, the state has turned its attention to clean energy.  

Since President Biden took office, Pennsylvania has seen more than $2.4 billion worth of solar investments and 1.5 GW has come online, nearly tripling its 2020 solar capacity.  

Pennsylvania’s solar and storage growth has been rapid, and voters are eager to maintain the momentum. A poll from Global Strategy Group shows that 78% of Pennsylvanians support increasing the use of clean energy and the wave of new solar jobs is putting additional pressure on elected officials.  

From a new battery manufacturer in Turtle Creek to a 220 megawatt solar farm in Franklin County, solar and storage are leading a clean energy jobs boom in the Keystone State. In fact, clean energy industries now employ more than 8x more Pennsylvanians than the state’s gas industry, according to the 2024 USEER Report. 

While the 2024 race for the White House is still a dead heat, one thing is clear: the 2024 battleground states are at the forefront of solar and storage growth in the United States.  

Voters overwhelmingly recognize the power of solar and, with nearly 9 in 10 Americans supporting federal incentives to deploy it, they’re demanding that their representatives stand up for these homegrown, American-made technologies.  

In 2024 and beyond, there’s a solar voting block and it is a force to be reckoned with.