Republican Congressional support of clean energy tax credits is growing

A letter signed by 21 House members urged Congress to retain long-term clean energy tax credits set forth in the Inflation Reduction Act.

March 10, 2025 Ryan Kennedy

Rep. Andrew Garbarino (R-NY) signed the letter in support of retaining clean energy tax credits.

Image: House.gov

The Republican coalition of support for retention of long-term clean energy tax credits continues to grow, as evidenced by a letter delivered to Chairman Jason Smith of the U.S. House of Representatives Ways & Means Committee this Sunday.

“We write to emphasize the importance of prioritizing energy affordability for American families and keeping on our current path to energy dominance amid efforts to repeal or reform current energy tax credits,” opened the letter signed by Andrew Garbarino (R-NY) and twenty of his colleagues.

The tax credits in question were created by the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), a long-term industrial policy that creates supply-side and demand-side incentives for clean energy project development and U.S. manufacturing.

The letter, signed by 21 Republican House of Representatives members, marks a growing coalition from the 18 signees of a similar letter last August. Four of the eighteen members have since left Congress, but the coalition has reached 21 signees.

The IRA includes tax credits for the installation of renewable energy projects like solar and energy storage of every size from a home rooftop installation to a large utility-scale solar facility.

According to the U.S. Treasury and Rhodium Group, over $380 billion in private investments have been announced since the IRA was passed, indicating its success as an economic driver. These investments include $114 billion for solar, $77 billion for battery manufacturing and $66 billion for energy storage.

The tax credits are expected to be reviewed under Congress’ budget reconciliation process, which is expected to take place over the next several weeks. As the Trump administration makes broad cuts to funding, ongoing debate remains whether Congress will take a “scalpel” approach or a “hatchet” approach to IRA cuts.

Roughly 80% of the private investment announcements spurred by IRA have occurred in Republican districts. The Department of Treasury said IRA investments are expected to support 1.5 million jobs over the next decade, based on analysis by the Labor Energy Partnership.

“Countless American companies are utilizing sector-wide energy tax credits – many of which have enjoyed broad support in Congress – to make major investments in domestic energy production and infrastructure for traditional and renewable energy sources alike,” said the letter to Chairman Smith.

The letter emphasizes the importance of stability and clarity with incentives. Project development and manufacturing require long-term planning and investment years in advance, and the uncertainty caused by the give-and-take nature of U.S. clean energy industrial policy is highly disruptive to progress.

“Many credits were enacted over the course of a ten-year period, which allowed energy developers to plan with these tax incentives in mind,” said the letter. “These timelines have been relied upon when it comes to capital allocation, planning, and project commitments, all of which would be jeopardized by premature credit phase outs or additional restrictive mechanisms such as limiting transferability.”

In a recent interview with Keith Martin, Norton Rose Fulbright, Emily Domenech with Boundary Stone Partners said the two IRA provisions at greatest risk of cuts are the consumer credits for EVs and the hydrogen tax credit. The extent of the cuts depends heavily on how long-term and deep the Trump tax cuts will be, said the panel.

Martin said on a recent webinar with Roth Capital Partners said that the core elements of the IRA, the investment tax credit (ITC) and production tax credit (PTC), could be phased down as early as late 2025. Jessica Tocco, chief executive officer of A10, took a more bullish stance on a Roth webinar, saying that the “juice may not be worth the squeeze” when it comes to ITC/PTC repeal.

The growing Republican coalition for tax credit support appeared to voice support for a gentler, “scalpel” approach to cuts.

“We request that any proposed changes to the tax code be conducted in a targeted and pragmatic fashion that promotes conference priorities without undoing current and future private sector investments which will continue to increase domestic manufacturing, promote energy innovation, and keep utility costs down,” said the letter.

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