G.O.P. Bill Adds Surprise Tax That Could Cripple Wind and Solar Power

The New York Times ^ | June 29, 2025, 12:00 p.m. ET | Brad Plumer

[E. Pluribus Unum]

Wind and solar companies were already bracing for Congress to end federal subsidies. But the Senate bill goes even further and penalizes those industries.

Senate Republicans have quietly inserted provisions in President Trump’s domestic policy bill that would not only end federal support for wind and solar energy but would impose an entirely new tax on future projects, a move that industry groups say could devastate the renewable power industry.

The tax provision, tucked inside the 940-page bill that the Senate made public just after midnight on Friday, stunned observers.

“This is how you kill an industry,” said Bob Keefe, executive director of E2, a nonpartisan group of business leaders and investors. “And at a time when electricity prices and demand are soaring.”

The bill would rapidly phase out existing federal tax subsidies for wind and solar power by 2027. Doing so, many companies say, could derail hundreds of projects under development and could jeopardize billions of dollars in manufacturing facilities that had been planned around the country with the subsidies in mind.

Those tax credits were at the heart of the Inflation Reduction Act, which Democrats passed in 2022 in an attempt to nudge the country away from fossil fuels, the burning of which is driving climate change. President Trump, who has mocked climate science, has instead promoted fossil fuels and demanded that Republicans in Congress unwind the law.

But the latest version of the Senate bill would go much further. It would impose a steep penalty on all new wind and solar farms that come online after 2027 — even if they didn’t receive federal subsidies — unless they follow complicated and potentially unworkable requirements to disentangle their supply chains from China. Since China dominates global supply chains, that measure could affect a large number of..

[albie]

God forbid. -sarc

[ABStrauss]

Oh no!

The birds are rejoicing.

[albie]

Balsa wood is needed for windmills. The Chinese harvest it by the thousands of acres in the rain forest. So there’s that. The propellers never decompose and they’re an eye sore around the country. And there’s that. Environmentalists are destroying the lungs of earth to save the environment.

[rktman]

Awesome!

[Texas Eagle]

“And at a time when electricity prices and demand are soaring.”

Gee, Wally, if wind and solar are so great, why are electricity prices soaring?

[God luvs America]

“This is how you kill an industry,”

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And who’s raking in bazillions from this industry?? Right- the Chicoms...

[jerod]

Wind farming is complete nonsense... A tax grabbing money scheme dreamt up by shysters and carnival barkers. As for solar panels... Building a new house? They make sense... Adding them to an existing facility and you’ll lose your shirt. Solar farms??? Same deal as wind farms... They’re a boondoggle.

[Da Coyote]

Those of us who have a real education (as opposed to journalism and other simpleton degrees) see no problem with that.

[Jim Robinson]

Funny that the Democrats have been trying for years to kill off the coal oil and gas industries.

[Palio di Siena]

Are you saying that balsa doesn’t decompose?

[Orosius]

You are entirely correct sir.

[JerseyDvl]

But Dems love taxes!!!
Win/Win

[9YearLurker]

Great!

[bigbob]

All forms of generation are subsidized- shift the money over to small distributed nuclear and thorium.

[johniegrad]

fossil fuels, the burning of which is driving climate change

YOU LIE!!

[Jonny7797]

“This is how you kill an industry,” said Bob Keefe, executive director of E2, a nonpartisan group of business leaders and investors.”

Good to get confirmation that the policy will have the desired outcome.

[Tell It Right]

Wind farming is complete nonsense... A tax grabbing money scheme dreamt up by shysters and carnival barkers.

I agree 100%! The grid should be based on stable sources.

As for solar panels... Building a new house? They make sense... Adding them to an existing facility and you’ll lose your shirt.

It requires a ton of homework and not from people with a vested interest in selling to you. I added solar to my existing home 4 years ago, then added onto it a year later. To date it's saved my cash flow a total of $6,400, while paying down the loan I took out to buy the products and hire an installer. As well as other energy improvements to the home, as well as replacing my wife's gas crossover with an EV crossover (her car needed replacing anyway).

But you must do your own homework to make sure your climate and your power consumption habits are good for solar.

[clee1]

If you need a goobermint subsidy to function, then your business model was fatally flawed from the start.

[KarlInOhio]

If you need secret Chinese communications chips in your power system, then your electrical system was fatally flawed from the start.