President Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act – assuming the version Senate Republicans passed on Tuesday becomes law–would cut the legs out from under the renewable energy industry.

The biggest hit: The bill would quickly phase out federal tax credits that have for years enabled wind and solar developers to offset 30% or more of project costs. Yes, it could have been even worse. At the last minute, the Senate’s Republican leadership ditched a proposed excise tax on wind and solar projects using Chinese components which could have added 20% to the cost of many projects. But it left in a fast phase-out of the tax credits.

Moreover, there are lots of other anti-green, pro-fossil fuel bullets the industry didn’t dodge. The bill would open more federal lands to oil and gas leasing at lower royalty rates; end tax credits and other subsidies for electric vehicles; and refill the Strategic Petroleum Reserve. There’s also a new tax break to incentivize mining metallurgical coal, now to be considered a strategic mineral.

Uncertainty, and the looming end of federally subsidized tax equity financing, could plunge renewables investing into a deep freeze, says Sandhya Ganapathy, CEO of Houston-based EDP Renewables North America (which operates wind and solar plants). “It severely hamstrings the U.S. ability to meet skyrocketing power demands and dilutes its economic competitiveness on the global stage,” she says.

Ironically, the impact will hit especially hard in Republican areas–a fact that Forbes (and others) thought last November might protect the industry from such savage cuts. A map (below) created by Michael Thomas, founder of Cleanview, shows that 78% of renewable energy projects underway are located in Red districts.

Why is Trump so determined to kibosh economic growth in Texas, where last Saturday afternoon solar power met 31% of the grid’s 77 gigawatts of power demand and wind........

© Forbes