Federal incentives “critical to our communities,” business leaders say. “Not just some rich person’s green power, or however they want to characterize it.”

Local Michigan business leaders are sounding the alarm over the GOP’s proposal to repeal clean energy tax credits, warning it would “deal a blow to Michigan,” according to new reporting from MLive. While congressional Republicans have framed their repeal effort as a way to hold “woke elites” accountable, Michigan companies say the impacts would be felt by working families and businesses, not the wealthy. 

One business leader, whose company installs high-efficiency, cost-saving combined heat and power systems in places like hospitals, pushed back forcefully, saying, “I can tell you for sure that the tax credits we‘ve received and our customers have received are not a boondoggle.” He added that the federal incentives making these systems possible are “critical to our communities, not just some rich person’s green power, or however they want to characterize it.”

Another leader, whose company helps businesses cut energy usage, warned, “Without the support, many businesses and families will be forced to delay critical upgrades, leading to higher utility bills and continued reliance on outdated and inefficient systems.” 

And a third, who said that the tax credits have helped his firm hire more workers and expand household solar installations, had a strong message for Michigan’s congressional delegation: “They can defend these investments, or they can jeopardize Michigan’s momentum just as it’s gaining speed.”

ICYMI: MLive: GOP cuts to clean energy tax credits would deal a blow to Michigan, businesses warn

By Lucas Smolcic Larson
May 16, 2025

Key Points:

• Republicans in Congress have called them “waste,” “handouts” and “green boondoggles.”
  
  
• Some business leaders in Michigan say that couldn’t be further from the truth for billions in federal incentives fueling advanced manufacturing, clean energy and consumer purchases of rooftop solar systems or electric vehicles — now all on the chopping block.
  
  
• That’s because Republicans in Washington have begun to make good on President Donald Trump’s campaign promises to gut his predecessor Joe Biden‘s signature climate law, the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act.
  
  
• In Michigan, their efforts have prompted industry and environmentalists to launch full-court press to save a sweeping set of tax credits available under the law. It’s not just their green appeal. Yanking them away would force layoffs, boost household energy costs and stifle economic growth, they contend.
  
  
• “That’s essentially an energy tax hike on Michigan families, and it’s happening just as new energy projects are beginning to deliver real savings and job opportunities in our state,” said Laura Sherman, president of the Michigan Energy Innovation Business Council, an industry group for the advanced energy sector.
  
  
• In Michigan, business leaders lobbying to save clean energy incentives argue they actually support a critical pieces of Trump’s agenda, ensuring a strong domestic energy supply and growing domestic manufacturing jobs amid foreign competition.
  
  
• “I can tell you for sure that the tax credits we‘ve received and our customers have received are not a boondoggle,” said Kevin O’Connell, advanced energy systems manager at Michigan CAT, which sells Caterpillar equipment in the state. His company has used federal incentives to install combined heat and power systems, generators that offer high efficiency and reduced emissions by capturing heat that would otherwise be wasted. “These are systems going into hospitals, commercial buildings – critical to our communities, not just some rich person’s green power, or however they want to characterize it," he said.
  
  
• Representatives for James didn’t respond to a request for comment from MLive on Thursday, May 15.
  
  
• Worry about the future of the Inflation Reduction Act extends to incentives available directly to households. The GOP plan would all but end tax credits for electric vehicle purchases, home energy efficiency upgrades and rooftop solar installations by the end of the year.
  
  
• That will only put those steps out of reach for many, especially low-income households, according to Komal Doshi, vice president of electrification and mobility with Detroit-based Walker-Miller Energy Services, a firm that helps businesses and communities reduce energy usage. “Without the support, many businesses and families will be forced to delay critical upgrades, leading to higher utility bills and continued reliance on outdated and inefficient systems,” she said.
  
  
• The affordability to smaller-scale solar arrays could also suffer, according to John Jevahirian, vice president operations at Michigan Solar Solutions, which installs panels and backup batteries on homes and businesses. Tax incentives for household solar installations — some dating back to the George W. Bush administration and extended by the Inflation Reduction Act— have allowed his firm to employ more workers, and they’re often the deciding factor in getting customers to invest, he said.
  
  
• “Our Congressional delegation has a choice,” Jevahirian said. “They can defend these investments, or they can jeopardize Michigan’s momentum just as it’s gaining speed.”