Senate Republicans eye softer stance on green credits

E&E News

2 days ago

A top Senate negotiator signaled Wednesday he was open to saving some renewable energy tax credits in the Republican megabill.
At the same time, the top Senate Democrat is pulling out the stops to salvage what he can from the landmark climate law.
At a closed-door Senate meeting, Finance Chair Mike Crapo (R-Idaho) told senators he wanted to 'extend the runway' for certain tax credits that House Republicans all but scrapped in their budget reconciliation package — though details were sparse.
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Senators said Crapo talked about amending the language for when a project must 'start construction' and preserving a provision that lets a project sponsor transfer tax credits to a third party.
The House-passed bill would also drastically phase out renewable incentives and enact strict new supply chain requirements that industry deemed unworkable.
Sen. Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.) said he thought Crapo was 'very much' open to extending the lifespan of incentives for 'certain types of energy and then other types of energy are going to expire quicker, … and he talked pretty specifically of nuclear of course, to which I said, 'Amen and amen.''
The Finance Committee is expected to release more details Monday night, Cramer added. He said Wednesday's meeting 'was just more conceptual.'
But others noted the ethos of the bill is not expected to change much.
'We're trying to keep the intent of the House intact, for the most part,' said Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.), a Finance member, though he's been pushing for some specific changes to soften strict requirements.
Schumer a 'perpetual motion machine'
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) has called on clean energy advocates, tech executives and even 'friendly' Trump officials to save parts of the climate law. | Francis Chung/POLITICO
As Republicans continue to inch forward on their megabill, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) has been working to sway them against wholesale repeals of the Inflation Reduction Act.
Indeed, after President Donald Trump and Republicans swept the elections last year, Schumer said he knew he had to gear up to protect the IRA.
He reached out to clean energy executives and environmental leaders months ago, he said, but no one was prepared for how aggressive the House legislation that passed just before Memorial Day would be.
'No one expected it to be as bad as it was,' he said. 'At the last minute, overnight, they dramatically reduced or eliminated the clean energy provisions. Most of the Republican congressmen didn't know of it, but I called up everyone that weekend, and I said, 'DEFCON 1,'' referring to the highest alert level for nuclear war.
In recent weeks, he's been enlisting finance people; clean energy advocates; tech executives; governors with major renewables investments; 'friendly' Trump administration officials; Duke Energy and Southern Co. executives; and Sean McGarvey, president of North America's Building Trade Union, to call their senators.
'Chuck is spending so much time and energy on this,' Sen. Ed Markey (D-Mass.) said at a press conference on Capitol Hill on Wednesday. 'He's become like a perpetual motion machine.'
Specifically, Schumer and his allies are targeting 16 Senate Republicans who he thinks show 'some discomfort' with undoing the IRA.
'I have a list of the one hundred biggest clean energy projects in America,' Schumer said. 'Eighty percent are in red states, it turns out. One of the companies that runs those projects is saying, 'People, call your senator,' and say, 'This will shut me down.' And they are doing it.'
Energy price spike?
Beside trying to woo Republicans, Schumer and other Democrats have been saying the GOP megabill threatens to raise energy prices.
A new analysis from the Democratic-aligned Center for American Progress set to be released Thursday found that slashing the IRA could cut 13 gigawatts of clean power on the grid per year over the next decade. In 2024, the U.S. added 49 gigawatts of new capacity to the grid, with 95 percent from new solar, batteries, nuclear and wind power.
'As much as 72 percent of all clean energy capacity that would have been built over the next decade would disappear,' the report says.
Asked if he worried Democrats might be able to run on rising electricity costs in the midterm elections, Rep. Buddy Carter (R-Ga.), who's running for Senate and has backed a Hyundai vehicle and battery plant in his district, shrugged off the question.
'That remains to be seen,' he said. 'I'm not sure energy costs are going to go up. In fact, I would submit that as we concentrate more on available energy such as natural gas, it might go down. And that's certainly something we're trying to do.'
He added: 'So I think that's risky on their part — to say the least.'
Intense lobbying
Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) on Wednesday met with some House Republicans who sent a letter to Senate GOP leaders last week urging them to make big changes to the legislation they had nonetheless voted for.
'I think that that was important,' Murkowski said of last week's letter. 'I think they're raising the same kinds of concerns that we are raising on the Senate side. It's much of the same in terms of — how can you allow for a longer phase out for some of these credits, the issue of transferability. I don't think that there's anything new, but I think it is important that it's being reinforced on both sides.'
Groups representing a host of interests have been ratcheting up lobbying.
Advanced Energy United and Republican-led Built for America are among those running ads. Built for America has been trying to reach the president and his allies on Fox News and Truth Social, POLITICO reported.
The Solar Energy Industries Association is planning a rally on Capitol Hill with workers next week.
The trucking industry and allied trade associations sent a letter to Senate leaders asking to preserve the 30C tax credit, which applies to alternative fueling equipment installed at homes or businesses. It can include electric charging for cars and heavy-duty trucks. The House version of the bill would phase out the credits at the end of 2025.
'This short runway threatens to strand investments that have already been made in good faith based on the credit's availability, especially for projects that have begun construction but will not be completed by year-end,' the letter said.
The GOP is up against a self-imposed Independence Day deadline to send legislation to Trump's desk. Many continue to say publicly that timeline is achievable, though Sen. John Curtis (R-Utah) said Tuesday 'a lot of us would be surprised if it passed by July Fourth.'
Reporter Mike Lee contributed.