Solar and wind industry faces up to billion tax hike under Trump's big bill, trade group says

Solar and wind industry faces up to $7 billion tax hike under Trump’s big bill, trade group says

Published

4 months ago

June 30, 2025

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Witthaya Prasongsin | Moment | Getty Images

Senate Republicans are threatening to hike taxes on clean energy projects and abruptly phase out credits that have supported the industry’s expansion in the latest version of President Donald Trump‘s big spending bill.

The measures, if enacted, would jeopardize hundreds of thousands of construction jobs, hurt the electric grid, and potentially raise electricity prices for consumers, trade groups warn.

The Senate GOP released a draft of the massive domestic spending bill over the weekend that imposes a new tax on renewable energy projects if they source components from foreign entities of concern, which basically means China. The bill also phases out the two most important tax credits for wind and solar power projects that enter service after 2027.

Republicans are racing to pass Trump’s domestic spending legislation by a self-imposed Friday deadline. The Senate is voting Monday on amendments to the latest version of the bill.

The tax on wind and solar projects surprised the renewable energy industry and feels punitive, said John Hensley, senior vice president for market analysis at the American Clean Power Association. It would increase the industry’s burden by an estimated $4 billion to $7 billion, he said.

“At the end of the day, it’s a new tax in a package that is designed to reduce the tax burden of companies across the American economy,” Hensley said. The tax hits any wind and solar project that enters service after 2027 and exceeds certain thresholds for how many components are sourced from China.

This combined with the abrupt elimination of the investment tax credit and electricity production tax credit after 2027 threatens to eliminate 300 gigawatts of wind and solar projects over the next 10 years, which is equivalent to about $450 billion worth of infrastructure investment, Hensley said.

“It is going to take a huge chunk of the development pipeline and either eliminate it completely or certainly push it down the road,” Hensley said. This will increase electricity prices for consumers and potentially strain the electric grid, he said.

The construction industry has warned that nearly 2 million jobs in the building trades are at risk if the energy tax credits are terminated and other measures in budget bill are implemented. Those credits have supported a boom in clean power installations and clean technology manufacturing.

“If enacted, this stands to be the biggest job-killing bill in the history of this country,” said Sean McGarvey, president of North America’s Building Trades Unions, in a statement. “Simply put, it is the equivalent of terminating more than 1,000 Keystone XL pipeline projects.”

The Senate legislation is moving toward a “worst case outcome for solar and wind,” Morgan Stanley analyst Andrew Percoco told clients in a Sunday note.

Shares of NextEra Energy, the largest renewable developer in the U.S., fell 2%. Solar stocks Array Technologies fell 8%, Enphase lost nearly 2% and Nextracker tumbled 5%.

Trump’s former advisor Elon Musk slammed the Senate legislation over the weekend.

“The latest Senate draft bill will destroy millions of jobs in America and cause immense strategic harm to our country,” The Tesla CEO posted on X. “Utterly insane and destructive. It gives handouts to industries of the past while severely damaging industries of the future.”

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Democratic senators blame White House, AI data centers for rising electricity prices

Published

8 hours ago

November 10, 2025

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Democratic senators blame White House, AI data centers for rising electricity prices

Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) speaks to reporters outside the Senate Chamber of the U.S. Capitol Building on Oct. 1, 2025 in Washington, DC.

Andrew Harnik | Getty Images

Democratic senators on Monday blamed the White House push to fast track artificial intelligence data centers and its attacks on renewable energy for rising electricity prices in certain parts of the U.S.

Sen. Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut, Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont and others demanded that the White House and Commerce Department detail what actions they have taken to shield consumers from the impact of massive data centers in a letter sent Monday.

Voters are increasingly feeling the pinch of rising electricity prices. Democrats Mikie Sherrill and Abigail Spanberger campaigned on the issue in the New Jersey and Virgina governors’ races, which they won in landslides last week.

The senators took aim at the White House’s relationship with companies like Meta, Alphabet, Oracle, and OpenAI, and the support the administration has shown for the companies’ data center plans.

The Trump administration “has already failed to prevent those new data centers from driving up electricity prices from a surge of new commercial demand,” the senators wrote. They accused the White House of making the problem worse by opposing the expansion of solar and wind power.

The White House blamed the Biden administration and its renewable energy policies for driving up electricity prices in a statement.

President Donald Trump “declared an energy emergency to reverse four years of Biden’s disastrous policies, accelerate large-scale grid infrastructure projects, and expedite the expansion of coal, natural gas, and nuclear power generation,” White House spokeswoman Taylor Rogers said.

The tech sector’s AI plans have ballooned in size. OpenAI and Nvidia, for example, struck a deal in September to build 10 gigawatts of data centers to train and run AI applications. This is equivalent to New York City’s peak baseline summer demand in 2024.

The scale of these plans have raised questions about whether enough power is available to meet the demand and who will pay for the new generation that is needed. Renewable energy, particularly solar and energy storage, is the power source that can be deployed the quickest right now to meet demand.

Retail electricity prices in the U.S. increased about 6% on average through August 2025 compared with the same period in 2024, according to the Energy Information Administration. Prices, however, can vary widely by region.

Download the full letter here.

Environment

Europe’s largest battery storage project is being built in Germany

Published

8 hours ago

November 10, 2025

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Europe's largest battery storage project is being built in Germany

Europe largest battery storage — Image: Fluence

Germany is about to become home to Europe’s largest battery storage system – a massive 1 gigawatt (GW) / 4 gigawatt-hour (GWh) project in Jänschwalde, Brandenburg.

LEAG Clean Power GmbH and Fluence Energy GmbH, a subsidiary of US-based Fluence Energy (NASDAQ: FLNC), are teaming up to build the “GigaBattery Jänschwalde 1000.” The four-hour system will use Fluence’s Smartstack technology, its latest large-scale energy storage solution.

Once complete, Europe’s largest battery storage project will play a key role in stabilizing Germany’s grid and storing renewable power for when the sun isn’t shining and the wind isn’t blowing. It’s designed to deliver essential grid services, support energy trading, and boost energy security as the country phases out fossil fuels.

LEAG’s broader “GigawattFactory” plan combines solar and wind farms with flexible power plants and large-scale batteries across Germany’s Lusatian energy region. “By constructing gigascale storage facilities, we’re addressing one of the biggest challenges of the energy transition: ensuring constant power regardless of the availability of renewable energies,” said Adi Roesch, CEO of the LEAG Group.

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Fluence CEO Julian Nebreda described the project as a “milestone for the energy future of Germany and Europe,” adding that it demonstrates how collaboration and cutting-edge technology can “transform the foundation of our economy and our everyday lives.”

The German government recently reaffirmed the importance of storage in building a secure and affordable clean power system. With this 4 GWh giant, LEAG and Fluence are implementing that priority in one of Europe’s most coal-heavy regions.

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Environment

The Genesis GV90 is shaping up to be a real stunner [Video]

Published

10 hours ago

November 10, 2025

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The Genesis GV90 is shaping up to be a real stunner [Video]

The GV90 will be the brand’s largest, most luxurious SUV yet. With its official debut coming up, a production version of the Genesis GV90 was spotted in public for the first time, offering a closer look at the stunning SUV.

The Genesis GV90 is a stunning flagship SUV

Genesis vehicles already have a unique design that’s hard to miss. The big Creste Grille, Two-Line Quad Lamps, and smooth character lines offer a refined, luxurious look, but Genesis is planning to take it to the next level with the GV90.

The GV90 is an “ultra-luxe, state-of-the-art SUV,” according to Genesis. It will be the luxury brand’s new flagship vehicle and first full-size electric SUV.

We got our first look at the flagship SUV last March after Genesis unveiled the Neolun concept at the New York Auto Show.

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The GV90 has been spotted out in public several times now, even flashing high-end features like coach doors and adaptive air suspension, but now, we are finally getting our first look at the production version in real life.

A new video from HealerTV shows the production version of the Genesis GV90 in action. Although it’s still covered in camo, you can see a few slight design changes from the concept shown last year.

The headlights and grille appear closer in design to its current vehicles, but other than that, the GV90 looks essentially the same up front as the Neolun concept.

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Since it’s still covered, it’s hard to see where the headlights are connected at this point. From the side and rear, the GV90 looks identical to the concept.

Genesis has yet to announce an official launch date, but the GV90 could debut by the end of the year with sales expected to kick off in mid-2026.

Genesis-GV90-coach-doors — Genesis Neolum electric SUV concept interior (Source: Hyundai Motor)

The flagship SUV is rumoured to be the first vehicle to debut on Hyundai’s new eM platform, which it claims will “provide 50% improvement in driving range” compared to its current EVs. It will also serve as a tech beacon, featuring Hyundai’s most advanced connectivity and safety tech.

We will learn official prices and final specs soon, but one thing is for sure: it won’t be cheap. The Genesis GV90 is expected to start at around $100,000, but higher trims could cost significantly more with added features and options.

Genesis is also introducing its first hybrid, the GV80, next year, followed by its first extended-range electric vehicle (EREV) based on the GV70. The EREV is expected to launch in late 2026 or early 2027. There’s also an off-road SUV in the works, which will likely arrive as a 2027 model.

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