Senate GOP Double Down on Clean Energy 06/18 06:35

   

   (AP) -- Tax credits for clean energy and home energy efficiency would still 
be phased out, albeit less quickly, under Senate Republicans' latest proposed 
changes to a massive tax bill. Electric vehicle incentives and other provisions 
intended to move the United States away from fossil fuels would be gutted 
rapidly.

   Senate Republicans cast their version of the bill as less damaging to the 
clean energy industry than the version House Republicans passed last month, but 
Democrats and advocates criticized it, saying it would still have significant 
consequences for wind, solar and other projects.

   Ultimately, wherever Congress ends up could have a big impact on consumers, 
companies and others that were depending on tax credits for green energy 
investments. It could also impact long-term how quickly America transitions to 
renewable energies.

   "They want everybody to believe that after the flawed House bill, that they 
have come up with a much more moderate climate approach," said Sen. Ron Wyden 
of Oregon, the top Democrat on the finance committee, during a conference call 
with reporters Tuesday.

   "The reality is, if the early projections on the clean energy cuts are 
accurate, the Senate Republican bill does almost 90%" as much damage as the 
House proposal, added Wyden, who authored clean energy tax credits included in 
the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act passed during former President Joe Biden's 
term. "Let's not get too serious about this new Senate bill being a kinder, 
gentler approach."

   The Edison Electric Institute, a trade association representing 
investor-owned electric companies, issued a statement applauding the Senate 
proposal for including "more reasonable timelines for phasing out energy tax 
credits."

   "These modifications are a step in the right direction," said the statement 
from Pat Vincent-Collawn, the institute's interim chief executive officer, 
adding that the changes balance "business certainty with fiscal responsibility."

   Whether all of the changes will be enacted into law isn't clear yet. The 
Senate can still modify its proposals before they go to a vote. Any conflicts 
in the draft legislation will have to be sorted out with the House as the GOP 
looks to fast-track the bill for a vote by President Donald Trump's imminent 
Fourth of July target.

   Notably, many Republicans in Congress have advocated to protect the 
clean-energy credits, which have overwhelmingly benefited Republican 
congressional districts. A report by the Atlas Public Policy research firm 
found that 77% of planned spending on credit-eligible projects are in GOP-held 
House districts.

   The clean energy tax credits stem from Biden's climate law, which aimed to 
boost to the nation's transition away from planet-warming greenhouse gas 
emissions and toward renewable energy such as wind and solar power.

   The House version of the bill took an ax to many of the credits and 
effectively made it impossible for wind and solar providers to meet the 
requirements and timelines necessary to qualify for the incentives. After the 
House vote, 13 House Republicans lobbied the Senate to preserve some of the 
clean energy incentives that GOP lawmakers had voted to erase.

   Renewables and reaction

   Language included Monday in the reconciliation bill from the Senate Finance 
Committee would still phase out -- though more slowly than House lawmakers 
envisioned -- some Biden-era green energy tax breaks.

   The Senate proposal further "achieves significant savings by slashing Green 
New Deal spending and targeting waste, fraud and abuse in spending programs 
while preserving and protecting them for the most vulnerable," said Sen. Mike 
Crapo, R-Idaho and chairman of the committee.

   On the chopping block are tax credits for residential rooftop solar 
installations, ending within 180 days of passage, and a subsidy for hydrogen 
production. Federal credits for wind and solar would have a longer phaseout 
than in the House version, but it would still be difficult for developers to 
meet the rules for beginning construction in order to receive the credit.

   At the same time, it would boost support for geothermal, nuclear and 
hydropower projects that begin construction by 2033.

   "The bill will strip the ability of millions of American families to choose 
the energy savings, energy resilience, and energy freedom that solar and 
storage provide," said Abigail Ross Hopper, president and CEO of the Solar 
Energy Industries Association. "If this bill passes as is, we cannot ensure an 
affordable, reliable and secure energy system."

   Opponents of the Senate's text also decry domestic manufacturing job and 
economic losses as a result.

   "This is a 20-pound sledgehammer swung at clean energy. It would mean higher 
energy prices, lost manufacturing jobs, shuttered factories, and a worsening 
climate crisis," said Jackie Wong, senior vice president for climate and energy 
at the Natural Resources Defense Council.

   Home energy efficiency credits and EVs

   The bill would also cancel incentives such as the Energy Efficient Home 
Improvement credit -- which helps homeowners make improvements such as 
insulation or heating and cooling systems that reduce their energy usage and 
energy bills -- 180 days after enactment. An incentive for builders 
constructing new energy-efficient homes and apartments would end 12 months 
after signing. The House's proposed end date for both is Dec. 31.

   "Canceling these credits would increase monthly bills for American families 
and businesses," Steven Nadel, executive director of the nonprofit American 
Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy said in a statement.

   The Senate proposal moves up the timeline for ending the consumer electric 
vehicle tax credit from the end of this year to 180 days after passage. It also 
cuts the provision that would have extended until the end of 2026 a credit for 
automakers that had not made 200,000 qualifying EVs for U.S. sale. It would 
also immediately eliminate the $7,500 credit for leased EVs.

   This administration has staunchly gone after EVs amid Trump's targeting of 
what he calls a "mandate," incorrectly referring to a Biden-era target for half 
of new vehicle sales by 2030 be electric.