Hard-line House conservatives said President Donald Trump assured them his administration would strictly enforce rules for wind or solar projects to qualify for the tax credits under the Inflation Reduction Act — a pledge that persuaded them to back the party’s megabill.
“What he’s going to do is use his powers as chief executive to make sure that the companies that apply for solar credits, as an example, he’s going to make sure that they’re doing what they say when they say they’ve started construction,” Rep. Ralph Norman (R-S.C.), a member of the House Freedom Caucus, said on CNBC on Thursday morning. “He’s going to make sure they’ve done that.”
The Senate passed its version of Republicans’ budget reconciliation bill earlier this week that included compromise language on the phaseout of incentives for solar and wind generation projects under the Democrats’ 2022 climate law.
The language gave projects one year to begin construction to claim the current tax credit, while projects that start later would need to be placed into service by 2027. That marked a shift from the language in the House version, H.R. 1 (119), supported by conservative hard-liners that only would provide 60 days for projects to begin construction.
Conservatives also opposed a “safe harbor” clause allowing projects to qualify for the credits if they begin construction by incurring 5 percent of the total cost of the work.
Norman, who voted to proceed to a final vote on the measure, said that Trump gave assurances that changes were going to be made, “particularly with getting permits,” although he did not provide further details. And while the president can’t remove the subsidies, Trump’s pledge on enforcement of the changes helped win support from conservatives.
“They wanted to put when construction began [as] when the time frame would extend from, like the wind and solar. We wanted date of service, which means they can’t take a backhoe out there and dig a ditch and say that’s construction,” he said. “So things like that the president is going to enforce.”
Rep. Tim Burchett (R-Tenn.) also said Thursday that Trump heard conservatives’ “concerns about the energy sector” and confirmed the administration would vigorously enforce construction dates for the phaseout of the credits.
“That was huge,” Burchett said.
The White House did not immediately return a request for comment Thursday.
Meredith Lee Hill contributed to this report.
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