DENVER — New changes in the Senate's megabill are leaving Coloradans in the renewable energy industry with concerns and frustrations. Updates in President Donald Trump's "Big Beautiful Bill" would cut tax incentives for wind and solar energy, along with adding a new tax on projects.
Pivot Energy is a developer and operator of solar and energy storage projects is based in Denver but operates nationwide. Tom Hunt, CEO of the company, shared that solar energy has grown dramatically over the past few years and is confused by this bill taxing new sources of electricity, when there is such a demand.
"Look, I was profoundly disappointed with the version of the bill that came out yesterday. If it passed as it is, it will hurt jobs. It'll hurt our economy. It'll jack up electricity prices for years to come. It'll endanger a lot of new manufacturing across the country, because all those things are underpinned by the growth of solar and energy storage," Hunt said.
As far as how this would impact the industry, Hunt explained it would affect the level of inflation and the costs of electricity across the entire economy. Besides the cost, it also brings up questions as to what the future will look like for the solar industry.
"It calls into question everything that's under development right now, and that's one of the real puzzling pieces about the bill is it doesn't look just to kind of reduce incentives going forward. It's actively attacking projects already under development and putting a tax on potential new development in the future, and it's just going to totally reshape how the industry looks at financing projects," Hunt said.
Professor Kishore Kulkarni, distinguished professor in the Department of Economics at Metropolitan State University of Denver, explained that a domino effect could pan out as the new tax would increase the cost of production and raise the prices for consumers.
"I think the tariffs and the products coming from China, are definitely going to increase the cost of production for us because energy is a very important input for a lot of things, including electricity for us," Kulkarni said.
While Kulkarni believes the effects will not be immediate in the short term, he provided perspective on what this means for Colorado.
"I think Colorado is very energy-based, energy ambitious of a state in the country and therefore anything that gives either a tax on energy or tax credits on energy, will affect Colorado in general, and this bill directly approaches to that," Kulkarni said.
KC Becker, CEO of the Colorado Solar and Storage Association, echoed a similar sentiment about how solar and wind have taken off in the last five years. She expressed her frustration after seeing the changes to the Senate's megabill and how devastating this would be on the solar and wind industries.
"People who are building America's energy future are going to lose their jobs," Becker said. "Ranchers and farmers who are relying on leasing their land to wind and solar companies could lose the income from those leases, and we're going to see bills go up for companies and families that really have come to rely on the low energy bills we have in Colorado."
Governor Jared Polis shared his reaction on X, saying Congressional Republicans "added a new jobkiller, tax and cost increase into the big, cruel bill targeting our thriving wind and solar power."
According to Becker, there are more than 8,000 jobs in the solar industry in Colorado. If this legislation passes, Becker said it would remove these jobs. During a time when many Coloradans are moving to renewable energy sources, she is concerned why this legislation would not be supportive.
"I'm really frustrated with this. I mean, look, we should be investing in wind and solar, it's popular in the United States," Becker said. "It helps keep energy prices low. It's the energy future for America. So it's really frustrating to see not only the energy tax credits be pulled back, but a new tax on solar get pushed that is just going to slow investment, make things more expensive, and mean a loss of jobs."
