A number of Senate Republicans will try again Monday to make their tax cut, energy and border spending megabill friendlier to renewable energy.
Pending amendments would ease the tax landscape for wind and solar projects. Not only would the latest bill cut off incentives for projects that aren’t plugged into the grid by 2028, it would also implement a new excise tax on renewable energy projects that don’t meet certain supply chain requirements.
Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), a key swing vote on the budget reconciliation package, told reporters Monday, “I don’t want us to backslide on the clean energy credits.”
Murkowski’s amendment with Iowa Republican Sens. Joni Ernst and Chuck Grassley would phase out incentives depending on when projects begin construction, a more lenient metric. Iowa has significant wind production.
An aide, granted anonimity to speak candidly, said it could be considered on a simple majority threshold. That would ease its passage.
Sen. Mike Rounds (R-S.D.) said about the amendment, “That works for a lot of folks in South Dakota. There’s a significant investment already there, but some of it won’t happen in a timely fashion that would be demanded by the current language.”
The amendment would begin phasing out credits for wind and solar in 2026, completely ending them by 2028. The Murkowski-Ernst-Grassley amendment would also eliminate the new excise tax.
Sen. John Curtis (R-Utah) has a separate amendment specifically targeting the new tax. He told reporters Monday that it was “a really sloppy approach.”
Curtis’ amendment would make the levy more flexible. It would give the Treasury Department leeway to write regulations on how to enforce it.
“I’m feeling confident that we’ll get to the right place,” he told reporters ahead of the megabill amendment vote-a-rama Monday.
Sen. John Hoeven (R-N.D.) said Monday that the energy amendments from moderate Republicans may pass on the floor, especially if they garner support from the entire Democratic caucus.
But he said the current bill text on energy tax credits, released over the weekend, represented “a compromise” that he thinks everyone could get behind — and is aligned with President Donald Trump’s requests.
“I think people kind of, by and large, are OK with it. That’s where the president wants to be,” Hoeven said.
Indeed, neither Curtis nor Murkowski has indicated an intention to vote against the entire megabill over energy issues.
One Republican with direct knowledge of the ongoing talks, granted anonymity to speak about them, said allowing the amendments to pass could make the bill implode. Conservatives want to repeal climate law credits faster.
It’s unclear whether Republican leaders are working on a package of amendments on various matters to secure enough support for Senate passage.
Democrats are also offering amendments relating to the energy credits.
One amendment, offered by Sen. John Hickenlooper (D-Colo.), would extend residential solar tax credits through the end of 2026. The Solar Energy Industries Association is advocating for the amendment and sent letters about it to all Senate offices Monday. Another, from Sen. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), targets the new excise tax.
Reporter Meredith Lee Hill contributed.
