At the end of 2024, the incoming Trump Administration pledged to dismantle the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), landmark legislation we helped champion in 2022 to drive historic investment in advanced energy technologies, revitalize domestic manufacturing, spur economic growth, create good-paying jobs, and lower energy costs for households and businesses nationwide.
IRA tax policies were enabling consumers, producers, and developers to make affordable and forward-looking energy decisions. With these critical clean energy tax credits at risk, Advanced Energy United recognized the need to move quickly to defend the tax policies poised to drive billions in investment and support thousands of American jobs.
Shortly after taking office, President Donald Trump issued an executive action titled “Unleashing American Energy,” pausing the disbursement of grant and loan funding tied to the IRA. In the months following, under the Administration’s order, the House Ways and Means Committee released a draft reconciliation proposal to eliminate or phase down about 60% of the IRA’s energy tax credit, shifting market signals and compressing timelines for advanced energy deployment. Urgency only intensified with the introduction of H.R. 1, a broad reconciliation package containing significant changes to tax policy, including provisions affecting clean energy incentives.
Ahead of the Congressional budget reconciliation deliberations, our challenge was to demonstrate to state and federal policymakers how advanced energy lowers costs, creates high-quality jobs, and strengthens U.S. energy leadership, and that smart tax cuts are crucial to sustaining this progress.
Working alongside our industry members and peer organizations, we swiftly coordinated an intensive, on-the-ground initiative to educate key House and Senate members and their constituents about the value of smart tax credits for sustaining America’s energy abundance and what would be at stake if the tax credits were repealed.
As part of our efforts, we launched UnlockingAdvancedEnergy.com, a curated digital hub featuring nearly 90 success stories of advanced energy projects across the country. The website highlighted data-driven examples and video stories demonstrating how clean energy tax credits have created jobs, lowered electric bills, spurred local investments, and strengthened grid reliability.
Leveraging the website Unlocking Advanced Energy as an educational tool, we launched a six-figure, three-phase national advertising campaign aimed at safeguarding the $3 trillion in economic benefits, $846 billion in household savings, and 13.7 million American jobs that these credits could generate over the next decade. The advertisements specifically targeted House and Senate representatives in states experiencing the transformative benefits as a result of the federal tax credits.
While H.R. 1 ultimately passed with accelerated phase-outs and new compliance hurdles, many foundational tax credits remained intact, a significant outcome given the Administration’s initial call to dismantle the IRA, demonstrating the impact of our rapid mobilization under extremely challenging political conditions. At the high-water mark for the legislation — the House Ways and Means Committee — our concentrated advocacy efforts helped blunt the most sweeping rollback proposals.
Although the changes brought forward by H.R. 1 did not amount to a full repeal of the IRA, they represented a significant recalibration of the federal policy environment. Accelerated phase-outs, new compliance thresholds, and heightened scrutiny are adding layers of complexity across the advanced energy industry.
Advanced Energy United is now working with state and federal leaders to find ways to expedite siting and permitting processes that are currently slowing new construction of energy projects, so that developers can qualify for the expiring tax credits, and experience a quicker and less risky project development process in the years ahead. At United, we know business certainty is needed for companies to invest, and see permitting reform in the states, as well as federally, as a critical opportunity for continued industry growth as federal tax credits sunset.