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

Wind and solar jects that enter service after 2027 and exceed certain thresholds for Chinese components could see higher taxes, boosting the industry's burden by an estimated $4 billion to $7 billion, the American Clean Power Association said

The spillover impact could be the loss of nearly 2 million jobs in the building trades, according to a construction industry group

In this articleNXTENPHARRYNEE your favorite stocksCREATE FREE ACCOUNTWitthaya Prasongsin | Moment | Getty ImagesSenate Republicans are threatening to hike taxes on clean energy jects and abruptly phase out credits that have supported the industry's expansion in the 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 jects if they source components from foreign entities of concern, which basically means China

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 version of the bill

The tax on wind and solar jects 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 would completely change the economics of solar and wind jects, said Abigail Ross Hopper, CEO of the Solar Energy Industries Association

This combined with the abrupt elimination of the investment tax credit and electricity duction tax credit after 2027 threatens to eliminate 300 gigawatts of wind and solar jects over the next 10 years, which is equivalent to $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

Those credits have supported a boom in clean power installations and clean nology 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 jects. "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

S of NextEra Energy, the largest renewable developer in the U

Trump's former advisor Elon Musk slammed the Senate legislation over the weekend. "The 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

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