One year after the Working Families Tax Cut Act—or One Big Beautiful Bill Act—was signed into law, it brought tax relief to at least 53 million Americans. Not only did the law codify many tax-saving measures, it also ended costly Biden-era green energy subsidies.
Independent Women Center for Energy and Conservation heavily engaged in discussions to repeal Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) green energy subsidies. Congress ultimately agreed to repeal most clean energy production and investment tax credits, yet allowed a limited number of new wind and solar projects to be “placed in service” by 2027. Ultimately, this rollback is expected to save taxpayers about $500 billion through the next decade. Had IRA green subsidies not been tackled, it would have cost the nation approximately $4.7 trillion by 2050. Following the rollback of IRA green subsidies, the Trump administration issued an executive order to codify further changes and reverse market-distorting behavior that gave undue preference to uncompetitive, government-subsidized clean energy projects.
Energy Secretary Chris Wright celebrated the year anniversary, remarking: “I’m thrilled to report that after about 35 years, on July 4th, we will end the subsidies for wind and solar, thanks to the Working Families Tax Cut…They drive up the system costs and increase Americans’ electricity prices.”
Given this reality and deprioritization of wind and solar here at home, some U.S. renewable energy developers agree it’s time to retire subsidies for mature industries like theirs.
“We’re at a point now where the tax credits have done a great job of launching the industry, but they do need to be phased out, because we’re a mature industry now,” Ty Daul, CEO of Primergy Solar, told E&E News last month. Daul also told the publication that a “large percentage” of his industry agrees with IRA green energy subsidy phaseouts.
In Independent Women’s June 2025 Policy Focus, I argued for the repeal of IRA green subsidies as they raise energy costs and distort markets:
Green subsidies historically advantaged larger, profitable companies over smaller, less profitable ones—resulting in higher consumer prices, fewer jobs created, and diminished economic growth. IRA clean energy credits have been no different, as they are propping up unreliable and unprofitable clean energy projects that require government assistance.
Government-subsidized industries, including clean energy companies, fail to create long-term jobs. I further noted in my Policy Focus that each IRA-tied job costs between $2 and $7 million.
Critics of green energy subsidy repeal argue the IRA was needed to cut emissions. But that is largely untrue. The U.S. was already projected to lower emissions, even without IRA green subsidies, after hitting peak emissions in 2005. This is largely attributed to the shale gas revolution and hydraulic fracturing (fracking) of the 2000s, when the U.S. economy saw tremendous growth. Recent analysis from Georgia Tech also found that emissions remained unchanged for 30 years, even as America sourced more oil and gas at home.
Utility-scale wind and solar projects also occupy large swaths of productive agricultural land. When these projects fail, they frequently cause environmental problems. For example, the defunct Obama-era Ivanpah solar field kills thousands of birds annually. Additionally, in Texas, Global Fiberglass Solutions, Inc., is facing a lawsuit for its Sweetwater wind turbine graveyard, currently holding 3,000 discarded wind turbine blades. The state of Texas ordered this wind turbine recycling company to remove the blades within 180 days, or face more penalties.
After decades of wind and solar subsidies, these sources just account for a mere 17% of U.S. net electricity generation. Natural gas (41%), nuclear (17.7%), and coal (16.6%) still dominate the grid. Even with subsidies, electricity from wind and solar is costly and unreliable, even with backup storage. The 2026 Lazard Levelized Cost of Electricity (LCOE) report just released found that existing nuclear and natural gas are cheaper than new wind and solar adoption.
If mature industries like wind and solar energy companies want to thrive, they must do so without government support as other companies do.
To learn more about the impact of Working Families Tax Cuts, go HERE.