Trump’s “big beautiful bill” may end the clean energy credits. Critics warn that it can send utility bills “from the roof”

The Senate approved Bill 51-50 when President Donald Trump and GOP lawmakers moved to dismantle Climate Act 2022 It was passed by Democrats under former President Joe Biden. Vice President JD Vance broke his ties after three Republican senators voted no.

The bill is currently moving to the House for final legislative approval.

Excise taxes on solar and wind power projects were added to the Senate bill over the weekend, prompting bipartisan pushbacks from lawmakers, clean energy developers and supporters.

The final bill removes taxes, but most sticks to the legislative language released late Friday night, Clean Energy Incentives End Early More than the draft version announced two weeks ago.

Some people warn about utility bill spikes

Democrats and environmental groups said the GOP plan would destroy the growth of the wind and solar industry, leading to a surge in Utilities Bills for Americans. The scale, they said, puts hundreds of renewable energy projects that are expected to boost the country’s electricity grid.

“Despite limited improvements, the law undermines the American manufacturing comeback and the foundations of global energy leadership,” said Abigail Ross Hopper, president and CEO of the Solar Energy Industry Association. When the bill becomes law, “families will face higher electricity bills, factories will be closed, Americans will lose jobs, and the electric grid will be weaker,” she said.

The American Petroleum Institute, the top lobbying group for the oil and gas industry, praised the bill for passing.

“This historic law will help us guide a new era of energy domination by lifting investment opportunities, opening up lease sales and expanding access to oil and natural gas development,” said Mike Sommers, president and CEO of the group.

Democrats complained that the bill would make it difficult to acquire renewable energy in the electric grid, but Republicans said the measure represents historic savings for taxpayers, helping to produce traditional energy sources such as oil, natural gas and coal, and helping to improve the reliability of nuclear power generation.

In a compromise proposal approved overnight, the bill would allow wind and solar projects that begin construction within a year of enactment of the law, without a deadline when the project is “in operation” or connected to the grid. Wind and solar projects that will be launched later must be credited by the end of 2027.

The bill will retain incentives for technology such as advanced nuclear, geothermal and hydropower until 2032.

Changes to renewable energy language, including removal of wind and solar sales taxes, are Alaska Senator Lisa Markowski and Iowasens. It was negotiated by a group of Republican senators, including Joni Ernst and Chuck Grassley. While Iowa is a leading wind producer, Murkowski is a longtime advocate for renewables, which is important for achieving energy independence, especially for isolated rural communities in Alaska.

Vote in favor of the final bill, Murkowski called her decision-making process “pain.”

“Because the people in my state were the first people I put,” she told reporters after voting Tuesday. “There’s no perfect bill due to the spread of imagination.”

GOP buildings are said to be “large-scale destructive.”

Sen. Sheldon White House, a top Democrat on the Rhode Island Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, has been called “a massive, destructive law” that “runs through the healthcare system, makes families hungry, and increases costs for everyone by sending utility bills through the roof.”

The bill “adds our children and grandchildren with trillions of dollars in debt. Everything serves billionaires Republican mega-donors who are among the huge corporations, fossil fuel pollutionists and already among the richest people on the planet,” the White House said.

Wyoming Sen. John Baraso, former chairman of the Senate Energy Committee, welcomed a bill to withdraw many of the Biden administration’s “green new fraud.” The bill also blocks industry groups vehemently oppose it, increasing oil and gas leases on public land and first-time fees for excess methane emissions from oil and gas production that revive coal leases in Wyoming and other states.

“The Senate has advanced President Trump’s agenda today,” said West Virginia Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, a Republican and chair of the Senate Environment Committee.

Advocates of Clean Energy are extremely disappointed with the bill and have argued that it will revoke many of the 2022 Climate Act approved by Democrats.

“By eliminating many clean energy incentives and cutting back others, the bill represents a major setback to the future of America’s energy,” said Nathaniel Keohane, a nonprofit organization seeking to accelerate the global transition to Net-Zero greenhouse gas emissions.

“Incentives to reduce electricity generated from wind and solar power are particularly myopic, raising energy prices for homes and businesses and threatening the reliability of the electric grid, Keohane said.