SEIA Responds to Reconciliation Bill Released by House Committees

Abigail Ross Hopper, president and CEO of the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA), issued the following statement in response to the reconciliation bill text released by the U.S. House Ways and Means Committee and the U.S. House Energy and Commerce Committee:

“At a time when billions of dollars are being invested in states that overwhelmingly voted for President Trump, this proposed legislation will effectively dismantle the most successful industrial onshoring effort in U.S. history. While American businesses are demanding more energy to compete against our adversaries and consumers are turning to clean energy to hedge against rising electricity prices, these proposals will undermine our nation’s efforts to achieve President Trump’s American energy dominance agenda. This legislation will cause hundreds of American factories to close, eliminate tens of thousands of jobs, force electric bills to skyrocket for everyone, weaken the reliability of our electric grid, and eliminate our capacity to compete with China. This disruption would devastate local, red-state economies, with more than 75% of at-risk factories and investments concentrated in these communities.

To make matters worse, this legislation is an attack on our individual liberties and freedom to choose how we power our homes. By effectively repealing the clean energy tax credit for homeowners, it rips consumer choice away from millions of hardworking Americans.

There is separate and harmful legislation proposed that impacts the funding mechanisms that allow everybody, including those living in underrepresented communities, to benefit from clean, affordable power.

The solar and storage industry appreciates the many competing interests faced by this Congress and stands ready to work together with our elected officials to ensure that American energy dominance prevails. The current proposals do not achieve that. Our nation’s energy security and national security are on the line.”