Tracking U.S. Senate vote on HR 1
Despite last-minute changes, US Senate bill deals big blow to renewable energy — By Valerie Volcovici – July 1, 2025 5:40 PM – Reuters – The U.S. Senate’s massive budget bill that passed on Tuesday will make it harder to develop wind and solar energy projects, despite the removal of some contentious provisions, industry advocates and lawmakers said. The Senate dropped a proposed excise tax on solar and wind energy projects that don’t meet strict standards after last-minute negotiations with key Republican senators seeking better terms for renewables.
The Senate’s Harsh Compromise on Clean Energy Tax Credits, Explained – By Emily Pontecorvo – July 01, 2025 – 6:30PM – Heatmap (PDF attached) – Excise tax is out, foreign sourcing rules are in. After more than three days of stops and starts on the Senate floor, Congress’ upper chamber finally passed its version of Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act Tuesday morning, sending the tax package back to the House in hopes of delivering it to Trump by the July 4 holiday, as promised. An amendment brought by Joni Ernst and Chuck Grassley of Iowa and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska that would have more gradually phased down the tax credits for wind and solar rather than abruptly cutting them off was never brought to the floor. Instead, Murkowski struck a deal with the Senate leadership designed to secure her vote that accomplished some of her other priorities, including funding for rural hospitals, while also killing an excise tax on renewables that had only just been stuffed into the bill over the weekend.
Democrats Bet Jobs in Red States Would Save Clean Power Projects. They Lost. by Maxine Joselow and Brad Plumer – July 1, 2025 – 7:50PM – New York Times – By ending tax credits for wind and solar power, Senate Republicans may have jeopardized billions in investments in their own districts. When Congress enacted President Joseph R. Biden Jr.’s signature climate law in 2022, Democrats made a bet. They knew the law would spur billions of dollars of investments in solar arrays, battery factories and other clean energy projects, primarily in Republican-led districts. That was designed to give the law staying power. But that wager failed spectacularly on Tuesday as Senate Republicans voted to dismantle many of the law’s lucrative tax credits for solar panels, wind turbines, electric cars and other green technologies as part of President Trump’s giant domestic policy bill. Nearly all Republicans voted for the bill even as industry groups, labor unions and even some members of their own party warned that axing those clean energy credits could erase thousands of jobs in red states and raise electricity prices nationwide. In the final hours of debate, a few Senate Republicans managed to secure a one-year extension for wind and solar companies to qualify for existing tax breaks. But the overall bill was still expected to force businesses to abandon projects and to slow the growth of clean energy.
The clean energy takeaways of the reconciliation bill – by Maeve Allsup – July 1, 2025 6:00PM – Latitude Media – The industry managed to notch some tiny wins — but largely failed to change the fate of wind and solar tax credits. The Biden administration’s assumption that concentrating clean energy jobs and investments in Republican districts would help insulate the IRA from repeal has largely proven to be a wild miscalculation.
The final version passed this afternoon in a 51-50 vote, “is even worse than the House version,” Moyer added. In other words, rather than improving since May’s “holy shit moment” when House Republicans first unveiled their proposed cuts to the IRA, the last 72 hours have instead been a backslide for the industry.
That said, the outcome could have been even worse, policy experts told Latitude Media this morning. Despite fears that the sector would be first on the chopping block as fiscal conservatives negotiated to bring down the price tag of the bill in the amendment process, no new cuts appear to have made it into the final text.
But reconciliation still isn’t over. Given the disparities between the final Senate bill and the version that passed the House with a razor-thin margin, “it’s not a done deal,” Moyer said, and therefore clean energy’s lobbying marathon is still not over. However, he added, it’s “hard to see” how the bill could improve for clean energy in the House, and there’s even the potential that things could get worse still.
Senate passes megabill that curbs IRA tax credits, drops wind and solar tax – by Diana DiGangi – July 1, 2025 – Utility Dive – The final bill offers an exception to the onerous “placed in service” deadline of 2027 for projects that begin construction within a year of passage.
- The Senate voted Tuesday to pass an amended version of the Republican budget megabill that significantly curtails clean energy tax credits. It does not contain a proposed excise tax on wind and solar projects that caught many by surprise when it was added late Friday.
- The final version carves out an exception to the bill’s new phaseout deadline for wind and solar project tax credits. Previously, the legislation stipulated that wind and solar projects had to be placed in service by the end of 2027 to qualify for the clean energy production credit. This was amended to exempt projects that begin construction within a year after the signing of the legislation.
- The bill that made it out of the Senate Finance Committee had softened some of the IRA cuts made in the House. That version was supplanted over the weekend by harsher language that included the now-dead excise tax. The Senate bill now heads back to the House, with Republican leadership in both chambers aiming to deliver the bill to President Trump’s desk for him to sign it into law by Friday.
Tuesday July 1, 2025 – NOON Update & Summaries of HR 1
Final Senate megabill to ease wind and solar phaseout – By Josh Siegel and Kelsey Tamborrino – July 1, 2025 – Politico – 11:30AM – Senate Republicans intend to remove a controversial tax on solar and wind energy projects as part of their budget megabill, according to three people familiar with the plans. Republicans’ final amendment to wrap in last-minute changes to the budget reconciliation bill will include a compromise for Senate hold-outs by removing the tax, as well as providing a carve-out from the tax credit phase-out for solar and wind projects that begin construction less than one year after the bill’s enactment, according to the three people, who were granted anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly. The amendment would still require other solar and wind energy projects to be placed in service by the end of 2027.
GOP clean-energy amendment won’t get a vote – By Katherine Tully-McManus – July 1, 2025 – Politico – 9:30AM – Sen. Joni Ernst said her closely watched amendment seeking to maintain wind and solar tax credits will not get a Senate vote before the anticipated passage of the GOP megabill. “I don’t think they’re going to let us” offer the amendment, Ernst told reporters Tuesday morning as GOP leaders rushed to put finishing touches on the bill. “There’s a lot of stuff that went on overnight that kind of waylaid our plans.”
New Senate GOP bill would kill clean power and spike energy costs – by Jeff St. John – June 30, 2025 – Canary Media – Senate Republicans have crafted a tax and spending bill that would create an unprecedentedly hostile landscape for the development of solar and wind power. If passed in its current form, the Senate version of “One Big Beautiful Bill” released late Friday would crash the rollout of clean energy, which now accounts for over 90% of the new electricity-generation capacity being added to the U.S. power grid. It would also stymie the nascent U.S. solar, battery, and electric-vehicle manufacturing sectors, which experts say are vital to putting the country on competitive footing with China.
The bill would have a profoundly negative impact on the U.S. economy. It would spike energy costs for both households and companies, both of which are already dealing with rising utility bills nationwide. It would make it nearly impossible for utilities to keep up with fast-rising energy demand from AI data centers. It would destroy jobs.
“If enacted, this stands to be the biggest job-killing bill in the history of this country,” Sean McGarvey, president of the North America’s Building Trades Unions, wrote in a Saturday statement. The group estimated that the bill’s cuts to energy incentives could eliminate an estimated 1.75 million construction jobs, translating to $148 billion in lost annual wages and benefits.
A megabill mystery: New solar and wind tax comes as a surprise to Republican senators – by Frank Thorp V and Sahil Kapur – June 30, 2025 – NBC News: “I don’t know where it came from,” Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., the chairman of the Budget Committee, told NBC News after he released the 940-page legislation.
Monday June 30, 2025 – Afternoon Update & Summaries of HR 1
Republican senators seek to change Senate bill clean energy tax, improve tax credits, By Valerie Volcovici – June 30, 2025 – 6:00 PM – Reuters
WASHINGTON, June 30 (Reuters) – Republican Senator Joni Ernst has introduced an amendment to the U.S. Senate’s tax and spending megabill that would change two of the most contentious parts of that bill and could give a small boost to wind and solar projects that had been targeted in the draft being debated on the Senate floor.
The amendment introduced by Ernst, and supported by fellow Iowa Senator Chuck Grassley and Alaska Senator Lisa Murkowski, would remove the proposed new tax on wind and solar projects that start after 2027 and make the credits available based on projects’ construction start date instead of when they enter service.
The amendment will be introduced on the Senate floor during Monday’s “vote-a-rama” – a marathon of votes on amendments to President Donald Trump’s tax and spending bill that drew searing criticism from business and labor groups since they were unveiled over the weekend, with some arguing the moves could lead to power shortages, raise power prices and kill jobs.
Ernst and Grassley represent Iowa, which receives more than 60% of its electricity from wind power. Other Republican senators may also back the amendment.
The pushback to the Senate bill, which includes a swipe from Trump ally and Tesla CEO Elon Musk, comes as senators started voting on a potentially long list of amendments to the bill on Monday morning, giving renewable energy advocates on both sides of the political spectrum a last window to push for changes.
“Taxing energy production is never good policy, whether oil & gas or, in this case, renewables,” said Neil Bradley, policy director of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, in a post on X over the weekend. “Electricity demand is set to see enormous growth & this tax will increase prices. It should be removed.”
“This would be incredibly destructive to America!” Musk posted on X, saying the cuts could endanger the development of energy-hungry artificial intelligence technology, among other things.
Trump has said he intends to maximize U.S. energy production, with a focus on fossil fuels, in part to ensure the power industry can supply the AI industry’s growth. But he has also promised to wipe out subsidies for renewables.
The Senate bill would roll back incentives for wind, solar, batteries and other clean energy technologies created by President Joe Biden’s 2022 Inflation Reduction Act, and add a new tax on these projects if they cannot prove their products are made without Chinese parts.
Those provisions were harsher on the credits than the previous Senate version and even the House version.
Energy analysis firm the Rhodium Group estimates that the excise tax on wind and solar would increase their cost by 10-20% on top of losing the tax credits. Those additional costs would be passed on to consumers, Rhodium said.
GOP fight over clean energy threatens to derail megabill, by Josh Siegel, Caitlin Oprysko and Meredith Lee Hill – June 30, 2025 4:00PM – Politico
The fate of President Donald Trump’s megabill could come down to a fight over clean energy tax credits, as a handful of Senate Republicans stage a last-minute rally to preserve wind and solar incentives from Democrats’ 2022 climate law.
Conservatives thought they secured a major win ahead of floor action on their megabill when President Donald Trump successfully urged Senate Majority Leader John Thune to crack down on tax credits for wind and solar energy from the Inflation Reduction Act. The new amendment would essentially return to the Senate Finance text — which proponents saw as a compromise to begin with — by allowing companies that are building wind and solar farms to claim a tax credit worth at least 30 percent of their costs if they start construction this year, with a phaseout over two years.
It would also eliminate an excise tax in the latest megabill draft that would penalize any wind and solar project placed into service after 2027 if it includes material assistance from prohibited foreign entities, including China. That tax — which shocked the renewable energy industry and the broader business community but is supported by some domestic manufacturers — would be applied even to projects not receiving any credits.
Senate Republicans Seek to Ease Solar and Wind Tax Credit Cutoff – by Jennifer A Dlouhy – June 30, 2025 at 6:02 PM EDT – Bloomberg
A group of Senate Republicans is pushing a plan to soften an aggressive planned phase out of subsidies for wind and solar projects under President Donald Trump’s tax-and-spending package. The amendment being circulated by Republican Joni Ernst of Iowa would also do away with a proposed new excise tax the Senate bill would slap on wind and solar projects that use components from China and other “foreign entities of concern.”
The proposal, which could receive a vote as soon as late Monday or early Tuesday, was being hailed by industry interests, who warned that without changes Trump’s “Big, Beautiful Bill” would deliver fatal blows to some wind farms and solar arrays already under construction, while snuffing out proposed projects necessary to meet surging US electricity demand. “This amendment would provide a more workable transition for energy businesses while protecting energy sector jobs and projects currently in the pipeline,” said Lisa Jacobson, president of the Business Council for Sustainable Energy.
Senate Republicans push clean energy megabill amendments – by Nico Portuondo, Amelia Davidson, Timothy Cama – June 30, 2025 1:29 PM EDT – E&E News – Politico
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.”
Sunday June 29, 2025 – Evening Update on HR 1
Inside Congress Live – by Jordain Carney – June 29, 2025 – Politico – The Senate will start its megabill vote-a-rama on Monday at 9:00AM – according to an internal scheduling update shared with offices on Sunday. The start time, which avoids having the Senate starting its marathon voting session in the middle of the night, sets up Republicans to pass their bill as soon as late Monday or early Tuesday.
Surprise Tax in G.O.P. Bill Could Cripple Wind and Solar Power – by Brad Plumer – June 29, 2025 – The New York Times – Senate Republicans have quietly inserted provisions in President Trump’s domestic policy bill that would not only end federal support for wind and solar energy but would impose an entirely new tax on future projects, a move that industry groups say could devastate the renewable power industry. – The tax provision, tucked inside the 940-page bill that the Senate made public just after midnight on Friday, stunned observers. – “This is how you kill an industry,” said Bob Keefe, executive director of E2, a nonpartisan group of business leaders and investors. “And at a time when electricity prices and demand are soaring.”
‘Kill shot’: GOP megabill targets solar, wind projects with new tax – by Kelsey Tamborrino, Josh Siegel and James Bikales – June 28, 2025 – Politico – Senate Republicans stepped up their attacks on U.S. solar and wind energy projects by quietly adding a provision to their megabill that would penalize future developments with a new tax. “It’s a kill shot. This new excise tax on wind and solar is designed to fully kill the industry,” said Adrian Deveny, founder and president of policy advisory firm Climate Vision, who helped craft the climate law as a former policy director for Democratic Senate Leader Chuck Schumer. Analysts at the Rhodium Group said in an email the new tax would push up the costs of wind and solar projects by 10 to 20 percent — on top of the cost increases from losing the credits.
How the Senate GOP’s New Tax on Renewables Could ‘Kill’ the Industry – by Jael Holzman – June 29, 2025 – Heatmap – As bad as previous drafts of the reconciliation bill have been, this one is worse. Senate Republicans are in the final stages of passing their budget reconciliation Megabill; which suddenly includes a new tax on solar and wind projects that has sent many in the industry into full-blown crisis mode. Senator Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island, a staunch advocate for climate policy, said in a statement to Heatmap that the tax will help China and hurt American families, “all so Republican oil and gas donors can make even bigger profits. This isn’t policy; it’s pay-off.”
GOP tax bill draws flak on energy provisions from some onetime allies – By Nicolás Rivero – June 29, 2025 – Washington Post – The massive tax and immigration bill advancing through Congress could raise energy prices in much of the United States and make it harder for American companies to compete globally on artificial intelligence and manufacturing as a result of deep cuts to federal support for wind and solar power, batteries and other renewable technologies, a wide range of experts warned on Sunday.
Senate’s tax bill seeks to gut clean energy; Musk calls it ‘utterly insane’ by Evan Halper and Shannon Osaka – June 29, 2025 – Washington Post – The Senate and House versions of the Republican tax bill would reverse manufacturing efforts to modernize the energy system and reduce greenhouse emissions. Congressional Republicans are poised to reverse course on U.S. energy policy by wiping out hundreds of billions of dollars in incentives for solar and wind projects as well as for consumers seeking to purchase everything from energy-saving appliances to electric cars.