Trump's Senate bill has a 'kill shot': The 'midnight dumping' provision could pinch your pocket

Time of India

12 hours ago

Senate Republicans stunned the power industry over the weekend with a proposed new tax on wind and solar projects, part of a broader push to unravel incentives for renewable energy. Republicans added a new tax on future wind and solar projects that don't meet strict new restrictions on parts produced by any company that received 'material assistance' from certain U.S. adversaries like China.
The projects will be taxed if a certain percentage of the value of their components come from China.
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Republicans in the US Senate have proposed a new tax on supply chain components sourced from China in a bill that could be voted on today (30 June). Senate Republicans have quietly added a provision to their megabill that would penalize future developments with a new tax.The updated draft of the Senate's megabill text slashes tax incentives for wind and solar energy — and adds a new tax on future wind and solar projects. The tax provision, tucked inside the 940-page bill that the Senate made public just after midnight on Friday, stunned observers.The proposed tax would levy a first-of-its kind penalty on all solar and wind projects tied to the quantity of materials they source from companies with ties to China or other countries designated as adversaries by the US government.'This is how you kill an industry,' said Bob Keefe, executive director of E2, a nonpartisan group of business leaders and investors. 'And at a time when electricity prices and demand are soaring.''It's a kill shot. This new excise tax on wind and solar is designed to fully kill the industry,' said Adrian Deveny, founder and president of policy advisory firm Climate Vision, who helped craft the climate law as a former policy director for Democratic Senate Leader Chuck Schumer.Analysts at the Rhodium Group said in an email the new tax would push up the costs of wind and solar projects by 10 to 20 percent — on top of the cost increases from losing the credits, according to Politico.'Combined with the likely onerous administrative reporting burden this provision puts in place, these cost increases will lead to even lower wind and solar installations. The impacts of this tax would also flow through to consumers in the form of higher electricity rates,' Rhodium said.According to a report in The Hill, the initial draft released by Senate Republicans slashed the credit for any wind and solar projects that did not 'begin construction' by certain dates. But the latest version bases incentives on when projects actually begin producing electricity — a much higher bar to clear.The first draft gave any project that began construction this year full credit, any project that began construction next year 60 percent credit and any project that began construction in 2027 20 percent of the credit, before phasing out thereafter.However, the new legislation instead states that the credits will only apply to facilities that begin producing electricity before the end of 2027. In addition, it imposes a new tax on some wind and solar projects that are placed in service after 2027.The projects will be taxed if a certain percentage of the value of their components come from China. The bill would rapidly phase out existing federal tax subsidies for wind and solar power by 2027. Doing so, many companies say, could derail hundreds of projects under development and could jeopardize billions of dollars in manufacturing facilities that had been planned around the country with the subsidies in mind."The renewables lobby slammed the changes as hampering the sector.'In what can only be described as 'midnight dumping,' the Senate has proposed a punitive tax hike targeting the fastest-growing sectors of our energy industry. It is astounding that the Senate would intentionally raise prices on consumers rather than encouraging economic growth and addressing the affordability crisis facing American households,' Jason Grumet, CEO of the American Clean Power Association, said in a written statement.'These new taxes will strand hundreds of billions of dollars in current investments, threaten energy security, and undermine growth in domestic manufacturing and land hardest on rural communities who would have been the greatest beneficiaries of clean energy investment,' he added.