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By Danielle Smith
June 6, 2025
Pennsylvania’s U.S. Senators are being asked to do what they can to safeguard federal clean energy tax credits, which are on the chopping block in the big budget reconciliation bill in Congress.
The nonpartisan think tank Energy Innovation said repealing these credits could lead to a loss of 26,000 jobs in Pennsylvania by 2030 and even more by 2035.
Robbie Orvis, senior director of modeling and analysis for Energy Innovation, said losing tax credits from the Inflation Reduction Act would make clean energy manufacturing and clean power projects less viable and increase household energy bills.
“In Pennsylvania in particular, we found that the loss of the clean energy tax credits would lead to $60 per year in higher household energy bills by 2030 growing to $80 per year by 2035,” Orvis reported. “That amounts to more than $2 billion more in spending on energy for Pennsylvanians between 2025 and 2035.”
He added the lost incentives would also mean $5 billion in lost state gross domestic product by 2030, and $6 billion by 2035. In Congress, Senators are divided over whether to keep the Biden-era tax credits.
Aaron Nichols, solar policy and research specialist for the Bucks County system installer Exact Solar, said solar allows thousands of Pennsylvania homes and businesses to save on energy bills and gives them a choice beyond big utilities. The tax credits make the switch easier.
“Solar energy made up 66% of the new electricity-generating capacity added to the grid last year,” Nichols pointed out. “As people have taken advantage of these incentives, the solar industry has grown, creating thousands of good-paying jobs.”
Mike Zimmerman, senior attorney for electrification at the advocacy group EDF Action in Pittsburgh, said they have seen more than $1 billion in clean energy investments in the state from battery manufacturing in Turtle Creek to solar manufacturing in Leetsdale and grid technology production in Williamsport. He added 27 gigawatts of mostly solar, wind and battery projects are waiting to connect to the grid.
“These facilities are doing much more than creating jobs,” Zimmerman emphasized. “They’re cutting energy costs for families, meeting growing energy demand and reducing the pollution that threatens our health and our state’s natural resources.”
Backers of keeping the clean energy tax credits said repealing them would lead to more fossil fuel use, which worsens air quality and is linked to serious health problems.