The legislation that passed the House early Thursday made a number of changes impacting clean energy tax credits under Democrats’ Inflation Reduction Act.
In the months and weeks leading up the vote, dozens of House Republicans had joined letters and statements defending the credits.
That fact — and the number of clean energy projects poised for GOP districts — gave many in the clean energy industry confidence that Republicans would largely preserve clean energy credits.
But those House members ultimately supported the package on Thursday — increasing the stakes for Senate Republicans to make changes.
To some clean energy advocates, the House vote was a warning sign that support is not assured until the final vote.
In their massive reconciliation bill, House Republicans on Thursday sent a message to the clean energy sector by eliminating important parts of Democrats’ historic climate law.
Senate Republicans intend to make the final decision.
Clean energy tax credits under the Democrats’ Inflation Reduction Act were affected by several changes in the legislation that passed the House early Thursday. More drastic than previous versions of the House bill, those changes are anticipated to severely limit the ability of renewable energy sources like solar and wind to receive the lucrative credits, while securing victories for the nuclear industry, which Republicans have applauded.
The Senate is probably the last opportunity to undo some of the changes, which industry groups have warned could jeopardize tens of thousands of jobs nationwide and billions of dollars in investment. Republicans can only afford to lose three votes in the Senate.
The House version is generally anticipated to be moderated by the upper chamber. According to one influential Republican, the rollbacks go too far. POLITICO spoke with five Senate Republicans who intend to review changes to the House rollbacks.
Sen stated, “There is still a lot of work to be done on the production and investment tax credit timeline and scope.”. Tillis, Thom (R-N. C. ), a member with authority over the credits in the Finance Committee. There will definitely be changes. “.”.
Tillis is one of four senators from the Republican Party who, along with Sen. John Curtis (R-Utah), Jerry Moran (R-Kan), and Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska). (). Though they did not specify the precise changes they would like to see, all four indicated on Thursday that they would be open to reviewing the House bill again.
Curtis stated Thursday, “I’ve been pretty clear where I’m at, and the Senate will speak after the House has spoken.”.
Senate Republicans will “obviously be looking at” the provisions added late Wednesday, according to Murkowski, “as well as the final product, and kind of seeing where we start our conversation.”. “.”.
Moran said he has “always been a supporter” of wind and solar credits being phased out, but he needs to review the House bill carefully “to see how acceptable [that is] or if that is too damaging.”. “.”.
Sens. are popular with Republicans. Cramer Kevin (R-N. D) and Capito (R-W) Shelley Moore. Va. had previously objected to the significant cuts in a previous version of the bill that the House Ways and Means Committee had approved.
Sen, too. Wyden, Ron (D-Ore). ), the leading Democrat on the Finance Committee, pointed out that Republicans in the upper house “love” the technology-neutral clean electricity credits he helped draft, particularly because they back nuclear and geothermal energy.
Wyden stated, “Some of the Republican senators are saying, ‘We can’t go along with that,’ because some of the sponsors [in the House] became greedy.”.
Dozens of House Republicans had joined letters and statements supporting the credits in the weeks and months before the vote. This fact, along with the quantity of clean energy projects slated for GOP districts, gave many in the clean energy sector hope that Republicans would largely maintain clean energy credits. But in the end, those House members voted in favor of the package on Thursday, raising the stakes for Senate Republicans to alter it.
Rep. Kiggans, Jen (R-Va. In a statement, one of the most vocal supporters of the tax credits said she voted for the bill because it fulfills other important GOP priorities, but she is still “deeply concerned” about the credits being rolled back, particularly the more drastic cuts made right before the vote.
“I hope additional changes will be made to protect the tax credits that are already creating jobs and providing energy for Virginia families as the bill moves to the Senate,” Kiggans stated.
Rep. R-N Andrew Garbarino. Yep. He missed the vote but stated that he would have backed the package. Late Wednesday, he stated that he was against the IRA changes made to please conservatives.
The Senate will have to balance the IRA rollbacks against other painful cuts and priorities for the megabill, even though it is generally expected that it will moderate them. The House vote, according to some proponents of clean energy, was a warning that support would not be guaranteed until the final vote.
Former Sen. Chris Moyer worked as a staffer for Harry Reid, the Senate Majority Leader at the time. Cory Booker (D-N. The J. called the vote a “real wake up call for the clean energy industry that took too much solace in a few letters from House Republicans,” according to a statement. “”.
“For a lot of people in the business, it’s their first direct look at the powerful current of partisan politics that keeps parties from splitting on important votes like this one,” said Moyer, who is currently president of Echo Communications Advisors. The only thing left to do is to hope that the Senate will have more integrity in correcting the House’s mistakes because this is a hard-learned lesson. “.”.
