(Reuters) – U.S. clean-energy companies are headed to Capitol Hill on Wednesday to urge Republican lawmakers not to kill lucrative tax credits contained in former President Joe Biden’s landmark climate change law.
Hundreds of representatives from firms in the solar, wind and other renewable-energy sectors are meeting with members of Congress from both parties to tout their role in creating jobs and investment, lowering electricity costs and meeting soaring power demand from data centers.
Republican areas have benefitted from the Biden administration’s Inflation Reduction Act since its enactment in 2022, with more than half of announced clean-energy, battery and vehicle-manufacturing projects located in Republican congressional districts.
Despite this, the clean-energy sector has been on high alert since the election of President Donald Trump, whose first executive orders prioritized unleashing U.S. fossil-fuel production, paused federal wind projects and froze funding for clean-energy projects from two Biden-era laws.
Trump has set his sights on scaling back the IRA, which contains billions in tax credits to support the expansion of clean-energy projects.
Some Republicans have introduced legislation to repeal parts of the bill, though more than a dozen Republican House members have urged party leadership to protect lucrative tax credits that benefit their districts.
The Republican-led Congress could deploy a legislative measure known as reconciliation to avoid relying on Democratic votes. Biden used the same tactic to pass the IRA.
The trade groups behind the lobbying effort include the solar industry’s Solar Energy Industries Association, offshore wind group Oceantic and the U.S. Green Building Council, among others.
The industry is expected to meet with several Republicans who signed a letter to House Speaker Mike Johnson last year expressing support for tax credits that have spurred investment in projects and factories. The letter was led by Representative Andrew Garbarino of New York.
More than 1,800 companies also signed letters to lawmakers urging them to preserve critical incentives. They include French clean energy project developer EDF Renewables, residential solar company Sunnova and solar panel maker Qcells, a division of Korea’s Hanwha.
“Businesses have relied on these tax policies to plan investments, hire workers, and change their product lines,” dozens of companies wrote in a letter to Congressional leadership.
“Business leaders have acknowledged that repeal will cause many to eliminate staff or to move their business abroad all together.”
(Reporting by Nichola Groom; Editing by Stephen Coates)
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