Clean energy stocks rise after tax on solar, wind removed from Trump bill
Clean energy stocks rose on Tuesday after a tax on solar and wind projects was removed from the Senate version of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act.
Shares of NextEra Energy, the largest renewables developer in the U.S., rose nearly 3% after the Senate narrowly passed President Donald Trump’s bill on Tuesday. AES, a leading renewable provider, rose almost 2%. The megabill will now go to the House of Representatives, where lawmakers will consider the Senate’s changes.
The clean energy industry was surprised and outraged to find over the weekend that a tax on wind and solar projects had been inserted into a version of the Senate legislation. The tax applied to projects that use components from foreign entities of concern above a certain threshold. Foreign entities of concern is widely understood to basically refer to China.
The American Clean Power Association and Solar Energy Industries Association told CNBC that the tax was struck from the Senate legislation. The tax was punitive and would have added up to $7 billion to the solar and wind industry’s tax burden, according to the American Clean Power Association.
The Senate bill, however, still phases out the investment and electricity production tax credits that have supported the growth of solar and wind power in the U.S.
The Invesco Solar ETF (TAN) over the past three months.
The benchmark Invesco Solar ETF (TAN) was up about 4%, while the iShares Global Clean Energy ETF (ICLN) was trading more than 1% higher after the legislation passed.
Shares of First Solar, the largest solar panel manufacturer in the U.S., slipped less than 1%. Sun tracker manufacturers Array Technologies and Nextracker jumped more than 11% and about 5%, respectively.
Residential solar installer Sunrun rose 9% while inverter manufacturers SolarEdge and Enphase were up about 8% and 4%, respectively.
But the Solar Energy Industries Association cautioned that the improvements in the Senate bill are limited and the legislation overall is still harmful to renewable energy. The American Clean Power Association described the bill as “a step backward for American energy policy.”
“This legislation undermines the very foundation of America’s manufacturing comeback and global energy leadership,” Abigail Ross Hopper, CEO of the Solar Energy Industries Association, said in a statement.
“If this bill becomes law, families will face higher electric bills, factories will shut down, Americans will lose their jobs, and our electric grid will grow weaker,” Hopper said.
<
