In newly unveiled text over the weekend, Senate Republicans sped up the phaseout of tax credits for renewables when compared to their initial draft.
The initial draft allowed projects to claim at least partial credit if they began construction over the next few years — while now the tax credits will only apply to projects that actually begin producing electricity by 2028 — a much higher bar to clear.
They also instituted a new tax on wind and solar that applies to projects are placed in service after 2027.
They’ll be subject to the tax if a certain percentage of the value of their components come from China.
Meanwhile, Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) announced that Republicans would no longer require the sale of up to 1.2 million acres of public lands in the bill.
Because of the strict constraints of the budget reconciliation process, I was unable to secure clear, enforceable safeguards to guarantee that these lands would be sold only to American families – not to China, not to Blackrock and not to any foreign interests,” Lee said in a post on the social platform X.
“For that reason, I’ve decided to withdraw the federal land sales provision from the bill,” he added
Read more about the energy tax changes here and the removal of the public lands provision here.
