What’s At Stake in the Fight for Clean Energy

POW talks with energy expert Brian Janous — POW board member and Chief Commercial Officer at Cloverleaf Infrastructure — and POW COO Ryan Laemel about what the latest House bill means for clean energy, climate progress, and the Outdoor State.

POW: Let’s start big: Where do things stand with clean energy in the U.S. right now?

Brian Janous: We’re at a critical moment. Clean energy has been gaining momentum for years. In 2023 and 2024, solar and wind made up over 80% of new power capacity. It’s like a deep Sierra snowpack — a solid base built storm after storm.

Ryan Laemel: Exactly. We’ve finally got real tools in place — thanks to the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) — that are lowering energy bills, creating jobs, and cutting carbon emissions. But a new House bill could trigger an avalanche, blocking U.S. clean energy progress.

POW: What does the House bill actually propose?

Ryan: It’s sweeping. It would rapidly accelerate the phase down of clean energy tax credits, including the Production and Investment Tax Credits (PTC and ITC) for large-scale solar, wind, and battery storage projects and a variety of consumer-facing ones for residential solar, electric vehicles, heat pumps, and more. And it targets important, wonkier provisions like banning leasing models that most people rely on for rooftop solar, plus transferability and direct pay, which open up billions of dollars for markets in tax credits for entities like schools or nonprofits.

Brian: It also eliminates the Advanced Manufacturing Tax Credit, which has driven billions of dollars of investment in new factories and jobs in rural communities. It also adds tough restrictions, like requiring clean energy projects to begin construction within 60 days of the bill’s passage and enter service by 2028. That’s an impossible timeline for most projects, even if they are already in development.

POW: How would this affect people?

Brian: For most communities, it means fewer jobs, higher utility bills, and less access to clean, reliable power. It could put 600 GW of clean energy projects already in the pipeline at risk of cancellation — that’s enough to power about 150 Seattle’s. This would slow down the deployment of renewables just when electricity demand is spiking for the first time in decades.

Ryan: According to analysis by energy expert Jesse Jenkins, by 2030, it would raise household energy costs by $25 billion a year, or about $160 per household, and add 0.5 gigatons of carbon emissions a year. That’s about 8% of U.S. annual emissions today. That’s the wrong direction for everyday Americans and our planet.

POW: But haven’t these programs already been working?

Ryan: They have. The IRA is popular and effective. 85% of its investments so far have gone to Republican-led districts. Every public dollar has attracted $8 in private investment. And clean energy jobs grew twice as fast as the rest of the economy in 2023.

Brian: And solar and wind are now the cheapest, fastest forms of new power. They’re cost-competitive with gas, cheaper than coal, and 3–5 times faster to deploy. We can’t afford to arrest that momentum.

POW: What should the Outdoor State do?

Brian: Just like with snowpack, the biggest danger is rapidly changing conditions. What this bill does is rapidly change the environment during a critical moment for US competitiveness. This isn’t about politics — it’s about whether the U.S. leads the clean energy economy or gets left behind by China and others. We need to “Build, Baby, Build” right now. That means accelerating clean energy deployment and sustaining the wave of advanced manufacturing investment that’s taken off in recent years.

Ryan: This is a moment to speak up. We need Congress — especially the Senate — to protect the clean energy tax credits that are powering American innovation, job growth, and climate progress. Clean electricity is the single biggest driver of emissions reductions through 2050, followed by electrification, and both are on the line in this House bill.

Take Action Now by Telling Your Senator to:

• Protect clean energy tax credits — especially the PTC/ITC.
• Choose energy reliability, affordability, American innovation, and jobs.