Green tech business leaders defend clean energy tax credits in letter to Congress

Proponents of clean energy tax credits aren’t going down without a fight—if they’re even going down at all.

Amid negotiations over the 2026 budget, Republicans have discussed repealing the Inflation Reduction Act and its clean energy tax credits, claiming it’s a means to cut costs. But green tech business leaders and associations (and some congressional Republicans, too) have made it clear they don’t want that to happen. And last week, they appealed to Congress again in a letter signed by 272 business leaders and trade associations, including PG&E, E2, and the American Clean Power Association.

“These credits are the basis for significant manufacturing investment and jobs in the United States,” the letter said, “promoting greater efficiency, growth in energy production, and the delivery of the capacity needed to keep our country at the leading edge of global energy innovation.”

The letter also noted that it’s not just investment and jobs that would be jeopardized if the tax credits were cut—market stability would be, too: “Now is not the time to disrupt the market by changing the current energy tax structure,” the signatories wrote. As Tech Brew has reported, the current atmosphere of uncertainty around the fate of the tax credits—though they remain standing—has already caused almost $8 billion in lost clean tech investments.

Rob Kaercher, the CEO of Absolute Solar and a signatory of the letter, told Tech Brew it’s “frustrating” when customers pause or cancel their solar projects because of the uncertainty around whether the tax credits will be repealed.

“Even if it is proved to be working currently, just the mere fact there is that nervousness or uncertainty for the future,” Kaercher said, “sometimes that, in and of itself, is enough to make people pause.”

And Kaercher said planning for the future is tough when it’s unclear whether the tax credits will be repealed, which the letter mentioned is an industry-wide issue.

“Companies plan with these tax incentives in mind and rely upon them for capital allocation, planning, and project commitments—all of which would be jeopardized by premature credit phase outs or additional restrictions,” the letter said.