WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The U.S. Senate is working on adjustments to a residential solar energy incentive that had been eliminated in previous versions of the Republicans’ “One Big Beautiful Bill,” Senator Kevin Cramer said on Tuesday. Cramer, a Republican who serves on the Senate Energy Committee, told reporters that “there is work being done” on rooftop […]
Politics
US Senate adjusting rooftop solar language in budget bill, senator says
Audio By Carbonatix
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The U.S. Senate is working on adjustments to a residential solar energy incentive that had been eliminated in previous versions of the Republicans’ “One Big Beautiful Bill,” Senator Kevin Cramer said on Tuesday.
Cramer, a Republican who serves on the Senate Energy Committee, told reporters that “there is work being done” on rooftop solar as part of discussions around fixing the language on the future of tax credits for clean energy projects.
Both the House of Representatives and Senate Finance Committee versions of the bill eliminated a 30% tax credit for homeowners that put up rooftop panels and ended a separate subsidy for companies that lease residential systems.
Shares of residential solar companies have been battered ever since, and many were up on Tuesday following Cramer’s comments. Shares of top residential installer Sunrun closed up 15% at $7.20, while shares of microinverter maker Enphase rose 11% to $38.38.
Congressional leaders and administration officials are pressing Republican lawmakers to pass the OBBB so President Donald Trump can sign it into law before the July 4 U.S. Independence Day holiday.
Overall, Cramer said, whatever the Senate comes up with, “it might be actually a little more generous than the House” version of the bill, which shrank the timeline for renewable energy tax credits that were created or expanded in former President Joe Biden’s 2022 Inflation Reduction Act.
Groups representing renewable energy producers and users have been making a last-minute push to improve language around the phase-out of IRA tax credits for clean energy before the Senate votes on the OBBB.
They say the bill, as written, is a threat to billions of dollars in investment, would increase power prices for consumers and kill jobs in fast-growing industries.
Cramer said senators are working on adjusting the “off ramp” for phasing out the tax credits, which were abrupt in the House-passed version.
Cramer’s office did not immediately respond to a request for additional detail on what was being considered.
(Reporting by Valerie Volcovici and David Morgan in Washington and Nichola Groom in Los Angeles; Editing by Leslie Adler, Mark Porter and Matthew Lewis)