Senate’s ‘Big, Beautiful Bill’ would be a disaster for clean energy

The U.S. Senate passed President Donald Trump’s ​“Big, Beautiful Bill” on Tuesday and took an axe to clean energy, though it was slightly blunted in its final moments.

The final vote was split 50–50, with Republican Sens. Susan Collins of Maine, Rand Paul of Kentucky, and Thom Tillis of North Carolina joining Democrats in voting against the bill. Vice President JD Vance cast the tie-breaking vote. Alaska Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski, who voted for the bill, said she hoped the House would further revise it.

The final amendment will still require solar and wind projects to start service by the end of 2027 if they want to access 45Y or 48E production and investment tax credits. But if they begin construction within a year of the bill’s signing, they’ll have longer to use the incentives. There are further restrictions on tapping tax credits for projects whose owners are ​“prohibited foreign entities” and for projects that use components from those countries.

“With spiking power demand and rising bills, we need more clean, affordable American energy, but Senate Republicans just voted to kill jobs and deliver the largest utility bill increase in U.S. history,” Natural Resources Defense Council President Manish Bapna said in a statement. ​“At a time when we need new energy more than ever, Republicans are punishing the plentiful wind and solar power that can be quickly added to the grid.”

The rest of the bill’s energy-related provisions looked pretty close to what was finalized on Friday. Here’s a recap:

Efficiency: Tax credits for energy-efficient home improvements would only be available to projects that are finished before the end of this year. To access energy-efficient home and commercial building incentives, developers would have to start construction by June 30, 2026.