One Big Billionaire Bill: How the House Budget Bill Will Dismantle American Clean Energy Jobs
Last month, Republicans passed a terrifying, sweeping piece of legislation through the House of Representatives, named the “One Big Beautiful Bill.” Among the many harmful aspects of the bill is the gutting of clean energy incentives from the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) to pay for tax breaks for billionaires. According to the Clean Energy Buyers Association, the legislation would increase the average household’s utility bill by more than $110 per year and businesses would see at least a 10% increase that consumers would have to make up for. Our energy bills are already rising rapidly. Instead of protecting the bank accounts of corporations and the billionaires who benefit from them, Republican leaders should be focused on helping millions of American families with the cost-of-living crisis and supporting domestic energy solutions.
Let’s break down how this bill is working against affordable energy and American manufacturing:
The GOP Budget Bill Sabotages Clean Energy and Domestic Production
The proposed bill guts nearly all clean energy tax credits from the IRA, including credits for solar, wind, electric vehicles, and domestic manufacturing.
A Sneaky Move: “Foreign Entities of Concern”
Instead of outright repealing all of the clean energy tax credits, the House GOP wants to expand a backdoor tactic called “Foreign Entities of Concern,” or FEOC. Under FEOC, clean energy projects are disqualified from receiving tax credits if any part of the project–from a single screw to a minor ownership stake– is tied to certain foreign countries, including China. It’s an intentionally impossible standard designed to block clean energy projects from being implemented.
American Businesses Are In Harm’s Way
The reality is that the U.S. doesn’t yet have the full capacity to replace every screw, wafer, or magnet currently sourced from abroad. But America has been building that capacity through manufacturing investments across the country that are creating good jobs and boosting local economies— thanks to the clean energy tax credits now under threat. Requiring every screw in a solar panel or wind turbine to be made in America, as the GOP’s new FEOC rules require, does the opposite of investing in American manufacturing. It will hurt American businesses, block clean energy manufacturing and supply chains from coming back to America, and undo the local economic progress that has already begun.
What’s At Stake
Without IRA tax credits, clean energy businesses are less likely to invest in expanding their operations to meet the rising affordable energy demands of households. According to the Solar Energy Industries Association, this will result in:
- 292,000 American jobs lost
- 287 factories closed or cancelled
- $220B in local investments erased
- Increased energy costs for American households
Mandating a sourcing provision like FEOC is not a move in good faith to bolster American companies against foreign competition. It is a purposefully unworkable restriction to nullify the clean energy tax credits.
But the fight is not over. The “Big Beautiful Bill” moves to the Senate where Dream.Org and partners are urging the Senate Finance Committee to take a more pragmatic, solutions-oriented approach to save our clean energy economy.
