House narrowly passes reconciliation bill that solar industry calls ‘unworkable’

The Solar Energy Industries Association said the solar and storage industry is ready to get to work with the U.S. Senate on a more thoughtful and measured approach to unleashing true American energy dominance.

May 22, 2025 Anne Fischer

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The U.S. House of Representatives passed the “Big, Beautiful Bill” 215 to 214.

Abigail Ross Hopper, president and CEO of the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA) called the bill “unworkable legislation” that is “willfully ignorant of the fact that deploying solar and storage is the only way the U.S. power grid can meet the demand of American consumers, businesses, and innovation.”

The report America’s solar industry is under threat found that the bill could jeopardize nearly 300 U.S.-based solar and storage factories and lead to the loss of 145,000 GWh of solar generation by 2030.

That solar generation is needed in the energy mix, as the electricity load in the United States is skyrocketing. A recent study conducted by PA Consulting for National Electrical Manufacturers Association (NEMA), “A Reliable Grid for an Electric Future,” forecasted a 300% rise in energy consumption by data centers alone. The NEMA report, as well as the SEIA report, found that an all-of-the-above approach will be needed to add energy to the grid fast enough to meet the demand.

If Congress cuts these incentives, SEIA said energy production will fall 145 TWh.

“America will not be able to meet demand, leading to blackouts and a surrender of the AI race,” Ross Hopper said.

“Americans’ electric bills will soar. Hundreds of factories will close. Hundreds of billions of dollars in local investments will vanish. Hundreds of thousands of people will lose their jobs. Families will lose the freedom to control their energy costs. And our electric grid will be destabilized,” Ross Hopper said.

The bill also threatens to undermine the manufacturing boom in the United States. In 2017, at the start of President Trump’s first term in office, the United States ranked 14th in the world for solar manufacturing. Today it is the third largest solar manufacturing economy in the world. Enough solar modules and polysilicon are now produced in the United States to serve the domestic market and cell and wafer production is on the rise.

(Read Solar cell production expected to double in the U.S. in less than 2 years.)

“If Congress does not change course, this legislation will upend an economic boom in this country that has delivered an historic American manufacturing renaissance, lower electric bills, hundreds of thousands of good-paying jobs, and tens of billions of dollars of investments primarily to states that voted for President Trump,” Ross Hopper said.

“This unworkable legislation is willfully ignorant. If this bill becomes law, America will effectively surrender the AI race to China and communities nationwide will face blackouts.”

The bill next goes to the Senate, which is currently made up of 53 Republicans, 45 Democrats and 2 Independents. Last month four moderate Republican U.S. senators wrote a letter of opposition to full-scale repeal the energy tax credits contained within the Inflation Reduction Act to incentivize renewable energy manufacturing, development and use.

“The solar and storage industry is ready to get to work with the U.S. Senate on a more thoughtful and measured approach to unleashing true American energy dominance to create a brighter future for all Americans.”

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