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Join our work today to help us build a thriving and just clean energy future. 

Rapid Analysis: House GOP’s Clean Energy Repeal and What it Means for the Affordability Crisis

The GOP’s proposed budget reconciliation bill kills jobs and raises household energy costs. Here’s our latest analysis.

A picture of the front of an empty House of Representatives with the American flag hanging behind the podium and the words
Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images via Getty Images News

After weeks of working behind closed doors on their budget reconciliation bill, House Republicans are finally releasing draft legislative text ahead of the committee markup process. These proposals, across various committees, are not only expected to make devastating cuts to Medicaid and food assistance, but would also gut clean energy, climate, and environmental justice programs that are reducing costs, creating jobs, and improving public health across the country. 

Let’s not mince words: Republicans are trying to raise your energy bills and destroy thousands of American jobs—simply to pad the pockets of billionaires, fossil fuel executives, and their top corporate backers with massive tax cuts.

We’ve compiled our policy analysis of the Republicans’ proposed Energy and Commerce (E&C) Committee bill text and Ways and Means (W&M) Committee bill text below to explain how these sweeping cuts will harm your pocketbooks, health, and planet.

Background

But first, some context: Back in 2022, Congress passed transformational clean energy investments as part of the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA). These investments were strategically designed to make energy bills more affordable, revitalize American manufacturing, and create millions of good jobs for working Americans, while cutting pollution. But House Republicans are now unleashing a full-scale attack on these historic investments, even though the lion’s share of the benefits from these investments flow to GOP districts. They’re targeting critical programs like clean energy tax credits, advanced manufacturing tax credits, Environmental Justice Block Grants, and the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund (GGRF).

Simply put, these bills are an affront to American communities struggling with a cost-of-living crisis, working people trying to support their families, and those living in sacrifice zones with polluted air and water. Let’s take a closer look at the devastating cuts proposed by these Republican committees.

 

How Are House Republicans Planning to Harm Climate and Energy Programs?

Toplines: Ways and Means

The House W&M Committee covers the tax-writing elements of the reconciliation bill, meaning this part of the Republican-proposed bill includes major cuts to the federal energy tax credits that are already delivering enormous benefits, particularly in Republican districts. These benefits include affordable clean energy and historic climate pollution reductions. Here’s what the GOP is proposing: 

  • Republicans are gutting or outright repealing tax credits for clean energy, clean vehicles, home efficiency, and clean manufacturing. The W&M Committee proposal would effectively repeal IRA tax incentives — raising Americans’ energy costs, killing jobs, and freezing new investments, especially in domestic manufacturing. House Republicans are using a sledgehammer and pretending it is a scalpel.

  • Under the W&M Committee proposal, most credits are eliminated at the end of 2025. Others have unworkable “placed in service” provisions or overly-complex and burdensome “foreign entity of concern” requirements that make them difficult to use, before they are then phased out. The GOP has also proposed terminating the “transferability” provision for the tax credits, which would strangle the growing clean energy market.
  • Here are the specific critical clean energy tax credits affected by the bill (this list is not exhaustive):
      • Clean Energy Investment and Production Tax Credits (45Y and 48E) are changed to begin phasing out in 2029, and are fully eliminated at the end of 2031. Additionally, the specified calendar years no longer refer to the date of “commencement of construction” but instead to the date “placed in service,” which will effectively kill most new projects and jeopardize the financing of many projects already underway. This is a radical shift in U.S. energy tax law.
      • All of the Electric Vehicle Credits (45W, 30D, 30C, 25E), including for new and used EVs, are functionally eliminated. 
      • Advanced Manufacturing Credits (45X) are subjected to unworkable new “foreign entity of concern” provisions that will freeze new investment and reverse America’s manufacturing renaissance. The credits are phased out at the end of 2031, with wind energy components no longer eligible after 2027. 
      • Home Energy Efficiency Credits (25C) are eliminated at the end of 2025.

      • New Energy Efficient Home Credits (45L) are eliminated at the end of 2025.

      • Residential Solar Credits and other home energy systems credits (25D) are eliminated at the end of 2025.

Toplines: Energy and Commerce

The House E&C Committee covers, among other things, any elements of the reconciliation bill related to the Department of Energy and the Environmental Protection Agency. This part of the reconciliation bill attempts to repeal most of the federal grant programs created by the IRA, as well as setting up rubber stamp permitting for fossil fuel infrastructure.  

  • Republicans claim to be cutting at least $6.5 billion in funding for climate and clean energy programs that benefit American households, alongside proposing devastating and shameful cuts to critical health programs. 

  • House Republicans are severely stretching the limits of the rules of reconciliation that prohibit making non-budgetary policy changes as they attempt to repeal vehicle emissions standards required by the Clean Air Act.

  • The GOP has proposed repealing sections of the Clean Air Act and other laws created in the IRA. 

  • Under this proposal, key programs are completely repealed, and any unobligated funding is rescinded. (‘Unobligated funding’ means approved money that has yet to be legally committed for a specific purpose).. Many of these programs have most of their money obligated but could still be impacted by repeal, including this non-exhaustive list:
      • Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund
      • Environmental Justice Block Grants
      • Vehicle Efficiency and Emission Standards
      • Methane Emissions and Waste Reduction Incentive Program
      • Climate Pollution Reduction Grants
      • Department of Energy Loan Programs Office 
      • Transmission Planning, Siting, and Financing
      • Clean Ports Program
      • Advanced Industrial Facilities Deployment Program

  • The bill allows natural gas pipeline projects to pay a fee of $10 million to bypass the normal permitting process and then guts the normal judicial review process by severely limiting who can bring forward lawsuits. Similarly, the bill says applicants should pay $1 million for the Department of Energy to deem a liquefied natural gas (LNG) export permit in the “public interest”, essentially allowing the fossil fuel industry to buy one of the necessary approvals. This makes a farce of our permitting process and essentially legalizes corruption with a pay-to-play privilege for gas pipelines.

In-Depth Policy Analysis for Ways and Means (W&M) Committee

1. Clean Energy Tax Credits (45Y and 48E)

Let’s start with one of the most powerful tools supporting rapid deployment of new energy generation and a modern, reliable, and affordable electricity grid for American homes and businesses: the IRA’s clean electricity tax credits. The Production Tax Credit (PTC) (45Y) is a technology-neutral tax credit that subsidizes the production of zero-emission sources like solar, wind, nuclear, hydropower, and geothermal. For every kilowatt hour (kWh) of clean energy generated, the producer gets a base credit of 2.6¢/kWh if they meet certain criteria. Similarly, the Investment Tax Credit (ITC) (48E) provides a credit of 30 percent (or more) of the investment into these same zero-emission energy generation technology projects, including energy storage.

2. Electric Vehicle Credits (45W, 30D, 30C, 25E)

The IRA’s electric vehicle (EV) tax credits have been rapidly accelerating America’s clean auto industry and jobs, while making EVs more financially accessible for some families. Households and commercial companies can receive tax credits for purchasing new electric vehicles (up to $7,500) and used electric vehicles (up to $4,000), as well as for chargers and installation. 

3. Manufacturing Credits (45X)

The Advanced Energy Manufacturing Credit (45X) provides an incentive to manufacturing facilities that produce clean energy components or systems in the U.S. Facilities that produce solar, wind, advanced batteries, and certain critical minerals are rewarded for re-shoring supply chains in America. 

4. Home Energy Efficiency Credits (25C, 45L)

Thanks to the IRA, households can take tax credits of 30 percent off, up to $2,000, for installing a heat pump or heat pump water heater, plus $1,200 for weatherization and insulation via the Energy Efficient Home Improvement Credit (25C). The 25C tax credit helped 2.3 million American families improve their homes and reduce their monthly energy bills in 2023. Families are saving an average of $130 a year in energy costs. By 2032 homeowners are expected to use the credit enough to cut peak electric demand by 3,400 MW.

The New Energy Efficient Home Credit (45L) provides incentives to builders of homes that meet Energy Star or Zero-Energy Ready Home standards. This credit has assisted with the construction of nearly 350,000 efficient new homes in 2024 and cut homeowner energy bills by about $450 per year.

5. Residential Clean Energy Tax Credits (25D)

Dating back to 2005, the Residential Clean Energy Tax Credit provides households with a 30 percent tax credit for rooftop solar, wind power, geothermal heating systems, and battery systems. In 2023, 1.2 million American families took advantage of the residential clean energy tax credit, and now 5 percent of US households have solar. And all of that small-scale solar adds up, with over 66GW installed, amounting to more than one-third of US solar capacity.

6. Transferability

The transferability provisions for various energy tax credits included in the IRA makes it possible for more companies and communities to access tax credits for their cost-cutting, job-creating energy projects. Through transferability, a project sponsor that may not have tax liability can sell their energy tax credit to a third party that does. This reduces the cost of the project and expands the universe of entities that can benefit from these important incentives. Furthermore, transferability has been used to benefit new clean energy technologies and manufacturing facilities, helping to grow new industries that are not reliant upon complex tax equity financing deals.

7. Other IRA Programs Affected by the W&M Proposal

  • Direct Pay (aka Elective Pay) allows states and local governments and non-profit organizations to access 12 of the IRA tax credits and is not impacted by the Ways & Means proposal—however, the policy would be rendered fundamentally useless if the underlying tax incentives are repealed, especially those supporting clean electricity, electric vehicles, and charging infrastructure.
  • Clean Fuels Production Credits (45Z) are extended to 2031 with increased generosity for fuels with land use impacts and "renewable natural gas.”
  • Carbon Capture Credits (45Q) are amended so that credits cannot flow to a specified foreign entity. Transferability is repealed.
  • Hydrogen Production Tax Credit (45V) is eliminated at the end of 2025.
  • Nuclear Tax Credit (45U) is phased out beginning in 2029 (80 percent in 2029, 60 percent in 2030, 40 percent in 2031, and 0 percent after 2031).

In-Depth Policy Analysis for Energy and Commerce (E&C) Committee

8. Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund

The $27 billion Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund (GGRF) is the largest grant program within the IRA. This $27 billion is divided into three programs: the National Clean Investment Fund (NCIF), the Clean Communities Investment Accelerator (CCIA), and Solar for All. Not only does this program provide a significant investment in pollution-reducing clean energy technology, but it also benefits communities that have been historically overlooked and underserved, bringing greater equity to the clean energy transition. For months, the Trump administration has waged an unsubstantiated assault on this fund. At every turn, the administration has been unable to justify its attacks to undermine this program, failing to offer evidence to support its bogus claims of fraud, waste, or abuse.

9. Environmental Justice Block Grants

This first-of-its-kind $3 billion federal program aims to empower disadvantaged communities to determine and design their own visions of pollution reduction and clean energy investment. The Environmental Justice (EJ) Block Grants, also known as the Community Change Grants, provide highly flexible funding that goes directly to nonprofit organizations serving these communities. This means projects are designed by and for communities to address their unique needs and build resilience to extreme weather events and environmental risks.

10. Vehicle Efficiency and Emission Standards

The Department of Transportation (DOT) and Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) set corporate average fuel economy (CAFE) standards for efficiency and greenhouse gas emissions from cars and trucks. These standards have saved drivers trillions of dollars and drastically reduced harmful pollution from vehicles—reducing smog and health impacts like asthma and heart disease. Rescinding these standards is not allowed by the rules of budget reconciliation, but Republicans are trying to repeal them anyway. 

11. Natural Gas Expedited Permitting

As it currently stands, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) reviews applications for the construction and operation of interstate natural gas pipelines under the authority of section 7 of the Natural Gas Act. FERC review ensures that applicants certify that they will comply with Department of Transportation safety standards.

12. Rubberstamping Liquefied Natural Gas Exports

Under the Natural Gas Act, the Department of Energy (DOE) has the authority to determine whether proposed liquefied natural gas (LNG) exports to non-Free Trade Agreement countries are in the “public interest” or not. This is part of a wider review process when considering proposed LNG export facilities.

13. Methane Emissions and Waste Reduction Incentive Program

Methane is a potent, planet-heating greenhouse gas that oil and gas operators often flare or leak into the atmosphere. That’s why Congress passed the Waste Emissions Charge (WEC) through the IRA in 2022, requiring oil and gas operators to pay a penalty fee if they exceed a certain level of methane pollution. Soon after, the Biden-led EPA introduced a rule implementing the WEC. But at the beginning of 2025, the Republican-controlled Congress voted to eliminate that rule. Now, Congress is trying to get rid of the fee outright via the budget reconciliation bill. 

Republicans have made their priorities clear: They’re willing to raise energy prices, kill jobs, and undermine American energy security to fund more tax cuts for billionaires.

© 2025 Gage Skidmore/Flickr CC BY-SA 2.0

Conclusion

Let’s be clear-eyed about what’s happening here: Congressional Republicans are attempting to take money out of everyday people’s pockets to give tax breaks to billionaires. 

In the process, they’re taking a wrecking ball to dozens of programs that make energy affordable for households, reduce toxic pollution, combat the climate crisis, provide life-changing healthcare, and nourish families with food assistance. 

Though this analysis has focused on Evergreen’s priority IRA climate programs found in the E&C and W&M draft bills, other life-changing federal programs are on the line. Evergreen will continue to track the House Committee markup and passage process for both W&M and E&C in the coming days. 

There’s still time to let Congress know that they must not attack these vital programs. Call your representatives now and tell them they cannot vote for a budget bill that repeals climate and clean energy programs, which protect our health, our pocketbooks, and our communities. 

Want to learn more about these historic climate investments? Read our series explaining the IRA’s most important programs.

 

Call Your Representatives Now

There’s still time to let Congress know that they must not attack these vital programs. Contact your representatives now and tell them they cannot vote for a budget bill that repeals climate and clean energy programs, which protect our health, our pocketbooks, and our communities. 

Fill out a form to be connected with your reps and provided with a sample script.