Clean Energy Counterattack Mobilizing

Some big players are mobilizing in the face of MAGA attacks on clean energy production, which well informed stakeholders know is absolutely critical to avoiding near term blackouts, brownouts, and skyrocketing electricity prices.
Get popcorn.

Politico:

President Donald Trump’s regulators are poised to make it even harder for new wind and solar projects to get Biden-era tax breaks — a prospect that worries even some of the companies the administration says it wants to help.

Upcoming guidance from the Treasury Department implementing tax changes in the GOP megalaw could narrow the path to claiming clean energy credits. That could mean fewer renewable projects added to the power grid even as the artificial intelligence boom drives rising energy demand.

The guidance — due next week — is in response to an executive order last month in which Trump called for an end to “market distorting subsidies for unreliable, foreign controlled energy sources.” The administration instead argues that fossil fuels, including coal, are the reliable energy sources needed to power a new wave of AI data centers.

But a range of interests — from utilities to tech giants — say onerous changes could harm their bottom lines.

The Edison Electric Institute, which represents investor-owned utilities, told me and my colleague Brian Dabbs that renewable energy is “critical to meeting energy dominance goals” in the short term. Because utilities have long planning horizons for new generation, member utilities may have already made “substantial investments” in wind and solar projects, which could become more expensive if regulations change.

Tech interests told us they are reiterating to the Trump administration that the path to AI dominance runs through the power grid — which means using any available energy source.

The Data Center Coalition, which represents large tech companies and data center developers, is calling for a “unified, technology-neutral approach” that does not subject wind and solar power to “more restrictive or ambiguous eligibility frameworks” than other energy sources. The Information Technology Industry Council warned that blunting renewable energy “could undermine efforts to power high-growth sectors such as advanced manufacturing and AI.”

Treasury’s guidance could alter one key metric — the definition of the “beginning of construction” — in a way that makes it harder for renewable energy projects to qualify for tax credits that sunset starting in 2026.

Tougher rules would fit with the Trump administration’s assault on wind and solar incentives, which the White House says skew the electricity market and lessen incentives for “dispatchable” fossil fuel power. In negotiations over the megalaw, Trump promised hard-right House members that he would use executive authority to further tighten tax credits.

But more moderate Republicans — who fought against efforts to implement an even faster rollback — are pressuring the administration to follow existing tax credit rules. Senate Republicans Chuck Grassley of Iowa and John Curtis of Utah are holding up confirmation for some Treasury nominees to get their way.

Clean energy advocates argue that stripping away renewable energy tax incentives will hurt the economy. Advanced Energy United, for example, said any rules that make it harder to build wind and solar will mean electricity prices go up.

Already, the megalaw has left a dent on the energy market. A report this week from LevelTen Energy, a clean energy marketplace, found that prices for power purchase agreements — long-term contracts for electricity supply that can boost renewable developments — are already up 4 percent in the month since the law’s passage. That reflects the “new risks and headwinds” of the renewable marketplace, LevelTen wrote.

The Hill:

Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) is placing a hold on three of President Trump’s nominees to the Treasury Department over forthcoming administration rules expected to hamper tax credits for wind and solar energy.

Grassley, who recently engaged in a heated back-and-forth with Trump over the handling of judicial picks, announced his move to place the holds in the congressional record Friday. 

The Iowa Republican added that while the “big, beautiful, bill” recently passed by Congress allowed for wind and solar companies to continue to get tax credits if they begin construction of their projects in the next year, the Treasury Department “is expected to issue rules and  regulations implementing the agreed upon phase-out of the wind and solar credits by August 18, 2025.”

“Until I can be certain that such rules and regulations adhere to the law and congressional intent, I intend to continue to object to the consideration of these Treasury nominees,” Grassley said. 

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Grassley’s gesture is timid, but it is an indicator that he’s hearing from nervous stakeholders.