GOP steps up attacks on wind and solar

https://www.politico.com/newsletters/power-switch/2025/06/30/gop-steps-up-attacks-on-wind-and-solar-00433499

By ARIANNA SKIBELL

Senate Republican leaders have escalated their assault on wind and solar power — setting off an eleventh-hour intraparty struggle over new financial hurdles for clean energy proposed in their megabill.

Senators spent the day voting on a slew of amendments to their version of President Donald Trump’s megabill, which GOP leaders updated over the weekend to include a new, unexpected tax on solar and wind projects and deeper rollbacks of Democrats’ 2022 climate law.

Lawmakers hope to send a final draft to the House tonight or tomorrow.

A preliminary assessment from the Rhodium Group, an independent consulting firm, said the new tax provision could increase the cost of wind and solar projects by 10 to 20 percent, and could lead to higher electricity prices, writes Manuel Quiñones.

The surprise inclusion infuriated solar advocates. Solar Energy Industries Association CEO Abigail Ross Hopper said a vote for the bill is a vote for “higher energy prices, a weaker economy, and a less secure America.” Even the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, a long time advocate for the fossil fuel industry, expressed reservations.

“Overall, the Senate has produced a strong, pro-growth bill. That said, taxing energy production is never good policy, whether oil & gas or, in this case, renewables,” policy executive Neil Bradley wrote on X.

Some Republican senators are trying to soften the bill’s approach. Sens. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska along with Joni Ernst and Chuck Grassley of Iowa introduced an amendment that would eliminate the new excise tax and also ease the rollback of clean energy credits, write Nico Portuondo, Amelia Davidson and Timothy Cama.

White House officials and fiscal hawks are trying to kill off those amendments, reported Meredith Lee Hill. They say billions of dollars in budget savings are at risk, along with potential support for the overall bill.

Tesla CEO Elon Musk called the bill “utterly insane and destructive. It gives handouts to industries of the past while severely damaging industries of the future,” he wrote on X.

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