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Republican bill aims to cut tax credits for renewable

energy

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Biden climate bill created jobs in Republican states,

group says

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Advertisements will note jobs created in congressional

district

By Valerie Volcovici

WASHINGTON, May 13 (Reuters) -

U.S. energy industry trade groups have launched a

last-minute lobbying blitz to urge Congress members to spare a

slew of former President Joe Biden's clean energy tax credits

from the chopping block in the Republican budget plan.

On Monday, the House Ways and Means committee proposed the

phase-out or cancellation of several lucrative subsidies from

Biden's signature climate law, the Inflation Reduction Act. On

the block are several related to wind and solar power, hydrogen,

and other technologies meant to cut greenhouse gas emissions.

Lawmakers will work over the next day or two to amend and

pass their plans for the broader tax package.

Trade group Advanced Energy United, which represents a range

of clean energy, transmission, technology and transportation

companies including NRG, Sunrun ( RUN ), Enel

and Microsoft ( MSFT ), launched a national ad

campaign targeting lawmakers in five states whose districts

benefit from investments spurred by the IRA.

The ads, which specify how much a congressional district has

received in IRA-generated private sector and manufacturing

investments, will run until a final budget bill passes in the

House. Speaker Mike Johnson wants the bill passed by May 26. AEU

did not divulge total spending on the ads, but called it a

"six-digit" campaign.

"Without these credits, American families will be worse off,

and U.S. manufacturers, who have invested in domestic

manufacturing, will be forced to shutter assembly lines, lay off

workers, and move production abroad," Advanced Energy United's

CEO Heather O'Neill said on Tuesday.

No Republicans voted for the IRA when it passed in 2022, yet

districts and states led by Republicans accounted for 58% of new

jobs created due to investments from the law, according to

advocacy group Climate Power.

Meanwhile, dozens of hydrogen industry lobbyists hit Capitol

Hill on Tuesday to urge lawmakers to salvage the federal 45V tax

credit to promote hydrogen projects, which they say could

support around 60,000 jobs per year between 2025 and 2035 and

generate more than $12 billion in annual GDP.

The committee proposed to move the expiration of that tax

credit from 2033 to 2026, making it impossible to develop

longer-term projects.

In a letter to Johnson and Ways and Means chair Jason Smith,

companies and trade groups including Cummins, EQT, the ports of

Long Beach and Corpus Christi and the American Petroleum

Institute "urgently request" that they save the credits or risk

ceding an advantage to China, which has rapidly developed its

own hydrogen industry.

Abigail Ross Hopper, president of the Solar Energy

Industries Association, also urged member companies to pressure

lawmakers to save tax credits, including the residential solar

credit, which will be eliminated at year's end. She also noted

that other proposed changes could hamper investment in

commercial solar, and urged people to sign up to the Solar

Powers America campaign, which generates letters to Congress

members.