CNN reports that President Joe Biden’s Energy Secretary is awarding $2.8 billion in grants from the bipartisan infrastructure law passed last year. Twenty manufacturing and processing companies for projects across 12 states will receive grants, which include components affecting both the electric grid and electric vehicles.

Biden also announced the formation of the American Battery Materials Initiative, which the White House has called “a new effort to mobilize the entire government and securing a reliable and sustainable supply of critical minerals used for power, electricity and electric vehicles.”

The funding will be spent in Alabama, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Missouri, Nevada, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Tennessee and Washington. It is expected to create 8,000 jobs, officials on a call with reporters ahead of the announcement said. The projects are expected to “develop enough lithium to supply over 2 million electric vehicles annually and establish significant domestic production of graphite and nickel,” according to the fact sheet.

Wednesday’s investment marks “the first of several rounds of investment in the battery supply chain,” a senior administration official on the call said.

The private sector, which was represented at Wednesday afternoon’s event, is expected to match the federal government’s investment.

“The recipients of federal grants to invest and build out the domestic supply chain are required to at least match the federal funding with private sector capital. They’ve more than done that in this case. So, the $2.8 billion is being leveraged for a total of a $9 billion investment today,” the official said.

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