The One Big Beautiful Bill Act, President Trump’s signature budget bill, will lead to higher energy costs and a stifled clean energy industry in North Carolina, according to clean energy experts.
The bill rapidly phases out tax credits meant to incentivize the development of wind and solar power – fast, cheap ways to meet the rising demand for energy – as well as encourage consumers to purchase electric vehicles. These credits were key parts of President Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act of 2022.
By stifling clean energy development, the OBBBA will limit the ability to quickly increase the electricity supply, drive up energy costs for North Carolinians, and slow the emergence of industries built around renewable energy, a growing part of the state’s economy.
The changes from the OBBBA come at a particularly bad time for North Carolina, when population growth and a manufacturing boom are increasing the demand for energy.
“We’re seeing energy prices climb faster than the rate of inflation. In some places, maybe as much as twice the rate of inflation,” Steve Kalland, executive director of the North Carolina Clean Energy Technology Center at N.C. State said.
Beyond the federal government, North Carolina’s clean energy industry faces further pressure from the state legislature and the utilities giant Duke Energy.
Earlier this year, the Republican-led legislature eliminated the state’s carbon emissions reduction target for 2030, while Duke Energy said it would not pursue offshore wind power development because it was not cost-competitive.
Despite the setbacks, Kalland has hope that the state’s clean energy industry can rebound. “It will be slow, but it will continue to go forward,” he said.
