Florida installed the second most solar power capacity in the country last year, and is predicted to become the top-ranked residential solar power state in the nation in 2028, but that growth could be severely impacted by the removal of tax credits in the major spending and tax bill which passed in the U.S. House of Representatives by a single vote last month.
The Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA) says Florida could lose potentially up to 21,800 solar and storage jobs if the current bill isn’t altered before making its way to President Donald Trump’s desk and into law.
Among the provisions included in the One Big, Beautiful Bill Act that would severely alter the solar power industry are the removal of tax credits. The bill includes a measure to eliminate the 30% residential federal solar tax credit by the end of the year. Also the Investment Tax Credit (ITC) for commercial and utility-scale projects would remain intact initially but phase down to 80% of its full value by 2029, then 60% in 2030, 40% in 2031 and fully eliminated by 2032, according to GreenLancer.com.
“Lost jobs in every single state are a recipe for disaster for American families, businesses, and the U.S. economy,” SEIA President and CEO Abigail Ross Hopper said in a press release. “From Texas and California to Florida and Illinois, lawmakers will put Americans nationwide out of work if this legislation becomes law, plain and simple. Axing energy jobs means shuttered U.S. factories, cancelled local investments, and energy shortfalls nationwide. We hope that U.S. Senators won’t let their constituents lose their livelihoods on their watch.”
If unchanged, the removal of tax credits would also hurt efforts on climate change. The bill could increase U.S. greenhouse gas emissions annually by 1 billion metric tons in a decade, according to an analysis from Princeton University researchers.
Florida GOP Sen. Rick Scott has been critical of the bill passed by the House, saying last week it will raise the deficit. He added that he intends to work hard throughout this summer to find more cuts in the package so that he’ll be able to support it when it comes to the Senate floor.
–Mitch Perry, Florida Phoenix
Joe D says
Why are people surprised…
If anyone paid attention this week…one of Elon Musk’s comments was that the new “BEAUTIFUL BILL” contained unfair cuts to the EV and plug in EV rebate, and the withdrawal of the 30% rebate for solar and alternative energy installations (both home and business installations). Musk thought it was UNFAIR for Trump to cut clean energy credits, but continue all the fossil fuel government subsidies and credits….again…SURPRISED!?!
Biden’s infrastructure bill included the expansion of clean energy production (jobs) inside the US, and expanded Clean Energy manufacturing, which will be severely disrupted with these loss of jobs country wide if the current “BEAUTIFUL BILL” passes in its CURRENT FORM.
All this to give 10’s of thousand of dollars of tax cuts for the upper 3% of incomes, and barely a couple of hundred dollars in cuts for the rest of us!
R.S. says
Florida has a plethora of renewable sources of energy: tides, wind, sun–and yet, FPL maintains a nuclear power station in St. Lucie that has the potential of making life impossible on most of the peninsula if it were to fail. In 2012, a safety engineer wanted to shut down a reactor that showed cracks. FPL attempted to fire the safety engineer instead of repairing the problems. Not encouraging the development of renewable energy sources is absolutely criminal!!!
Al says
Tax credits keep prices artificially higher than they should be. Government gives 25% tax credit suppliers raise prices 25% and use the tax credit as a selling point. This has been a car dealers trick forever and now it moves on to solar. If the product can’t stand on it’s own merits then the bargain isn’t real. Quit playing the shell game with our tax dollars.
Ray says
I would never put panels on my roof period! Leaks are a problem, and we all know about the wind of a hurricane. If they were free, I would not get them installed.
R.S. says
That seems a very short-sighted position to have, Mr. Ray. Shingles take their departure with strong winds sooner than solar panels–at least that’s been my experience. A nuclear fault, however, would make entire regions unlivable. If we were to get panels on all roofs and if we’d solve the storage problems efficiently, we’d have plentiful energy quite inexpensively.
JimboXYZ says
Yep they keep moving the goal posts for at least tax credits. Spend a little time on You Tube and watch some videos. One spends $ 20K to have that put on their roof. Hidden costs, they’ll lease the solar panels, you never own it. But it muddies up the terms of selling a house. And then there are the fly by night solar panel manufacturers that go out of business. One video, a dude in San Diego, CA went solar, the company promptly went insolvent. His 25 year warranty on parts is worthless today. Other solar systems are proprietary & if they go out of business, you’ll need to replace that entire system, because the inverters are proprietary. Same goes with your contractor, they go out of business, your left without a service contract. Wait until the roof leaks or needs replacement, there will be a solar panel removal to get to that leak or roof replacement, with a re-installation. If your bills are lower than California (like every place on planet Earth is), there just is no reason to ever go solar for as long as most stay in the same dwelling/property. Imagine having that debt follow you for the next 25 years. Can’t wait to see how that would affect a home inspection for a buyer ? Inspector can’t evaluate the shingles on the roof, any potential leaks for where the panels attach to a new/newer roof that they ruined. And it matters too, series vs parallel battery connection for how shade and tracking of the sun affect whether the solar system even works. As for selling your solar power back to FPL ? They, or at least California does, determines the peak & off peak rates they buy it back at. And your batteries ? Those charge & store before any of it is available to be bought back by FPL. You may not sell any solar back and at a rate that is both negligible & immaterial, they can move that goal post too, they usually will & have.
All those protestors that were burning Teslas ? Tesla also does solar. Imagine those protestors bankrupting Tesla over politics of DOGE and leaving consumers with no parts or services. The extreme Loony Left just isn’t working with the rest of us. This is what Biden-Harris was about for 4 years. Thank God he’s long gone, but he did leave a legacy that needs to be undone. We’ll be paying for Biden-Harris for the rest of our lives.