The moves are expected to create issues for the renewable energy industry, ones critics argue could raise power prices.
President Trump’s tax and spending megabill slashed incentives for wind and solar energy that were part of the Democrats’ 2022 Inflation Reduction Act, which is expected to significantly stifle the build-out of the growing industry.
And in recent weeks, his administration has taken further actions to hamper wind and solar power.
To catch you up:
- Shortly after the bill passed, Trump directed the Treasury Department to take a strict approach in limiting which projects are eligible for the remaining tax credits.
- The Interior Department also recently announced it would subject wind and solar projects to an elevated review process — a move that was expected to slow down their approvals.
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Last week, Interior said it would try to block projects that take up a lot of room, which is expected to primarily hurt solar and wind projects.
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The department said last week that it would weigh “whether to stop onshore wind development on some federal lands and halting future offshore wind lease sales.”
- It also moved this week to try to cancel an already approved wind project in Idaho.
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The Environmental Protection Agency separately announced Thursday it would move to claw back funds under a $7 billion rooftop solar program.
The Interior Department’s elevated review processes are expected to pertain not only to wind and solar farm approvals but also include a wide range of activities such as grants and assessments of endangered species impacts.
Ben Norris, vice president of regulatory affairs with the Solar Energy Industry Association, said he expects some of these reviews would not only delay projects on public lands but could have similar effects on projects on private lands.
“We are hearing about dozens, if not hundreds of projects in the aggregate that otherwise are totally sited on private lands, totally permitted by state and local authorities, but that the Interior Department seems to have found a way to put into limbo, at least for a time,” Norris told The Hill.
Read more at TheHill.com.
