Even from beyond the grave, a former West Virginia U.S. senator is responsible for a roadblock in the way of a current West Virginia U.S. senatorÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™s agenda in a legislative push with high stakes for the stateÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™s energy landscape.
Ruled impermissible are some provisions released by Senate Environment and Public Works Committee Chairman Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va., under her panelÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™s jurisdiction in a far-reaching budget reconciliation bill advancing through the Senate, a top-ranking Senate Budget Committee member has announced.
That committeeÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™s top-ranking Democrat, Sen. Jeff Merkley, D-Oregon, said last week the Senate parliamentarian advised that some budget reconciliation measures proposed by CapitoÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™s committee violate the SenateÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™s Byrd rule named for longtime former Sen. Robert Byrd, D-W.Va. That means the measures would be subject to a likely unattainable 60-vote threshold rather than a 51-vote threshold within the Republican majorityÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™s reach.
The Byrd rule, principally sponsored by Byrd and first adopted in 1985, allows senators to strike measures extraneous to the purpose of reconciliation legislation: budget resolution policy encompassing changes in revenue and spending.
The rule may be waived only by a majority of at least three-fifths of senators ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥” 60 if no seats are vacant.
Environment and Public Works Committee measures proposed in the GOPÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™s Senate budget reconciliation framework that Merkley said the Senate parliamentarian advised violate the Byrd rule were:
- Repeal of an EPA rule finalized in 2024 to reduce air pollution from light-duty and medium-duty vehicles starting over model years 2027 through 2032, which the agency projected last year would yield $72 billion in climate benefits
- Allowing a project to avoid judicial review of environmental review documents if its sponsor pays a fee to expedite the timeline for them
- Repeal of statutory authorizations for programs enacted through the Inflation Reduction Act passed by a then-Democratic-majority Congress in 2022, though rescissions of funds for the program donÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™t violate the rule
A Capito spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment.
Capito released updated legislative text Wednesday that still would:
- Repeal unobligated funding for a wide array of Inflation Reduction Act programs, including the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund, which appropriated $27 billion to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to enable low-income communities to benefit from zero-emission technologies, with $500 million awarded to lending intermediary Appalachian Community Capital to establish climate and clean energy projects in rural and coal communities
- Pause for 10 years an Inflation Reduction Act tax on methane emissions
- Create a new, optional fee mechanism for project sponsors to get expedited timelines for their project environmental reviews ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥” a move that critics have derided as ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥œpay to playÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥
ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥œSenate Republicans continue to move towards passage of this package that will help enact President [Donald] TrumpÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™s agenda,ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥ Capito said in a statement Wednesday.
Sweeping energy tax credit curtailments remain in the Senate budget reconciliation bill after the House of Representatives approved similar tax credit cuts in its version of the reconciliation bill last month, concerning West Virginia energy business leaders who say the moves would result in higher power bills and fewer jobs.
ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥œGive us a stable landscape, and letÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™s not be making these changes drastically,ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥ Wood County native Charles ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥œChipÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥ Pickering, founder of Pickering Associates, who has been designing and developing solar power systems in West Virginia and Ohio since 2012. ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥œBut give us a view into the future so that we can work with our industries and with our technologies to be able to plan forward.ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥
ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥˜It really is going to jeopardize the industryÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™
PickeringÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™s comments came during a virtual news conference held Tuesday by the , a coalition of companies and trade groups that focus on decarbonization, and its small business subsidiary, the Clean Energy Business Network.
The organizations touted San Francisco-based climate policy firm Energy Innovation LLC that changes in the House-passed budget reconciliation bill would result in:
- The loss of 2,000 jobs in West Virginia by 2030 and nearly 3,300 jobs by 2035, due to a drop in new domestic energy and manufacturing investments
- Increase household energy spending in West Virginia by an average of nearly $160 per year in 2030 and more than $410 per year in 2035 due to increased capital, fuel and operating expenses, with households paying $1.5 billion in increased energy bills through 2035
ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥œWe are advocating that we need an all-of-the-above approach,ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥ Clean Energy Business Network President Lynn Abramson said during the news conference. ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥œAnd when you start retroactively changing the tax code and creating that level of uncertainty, it really is going to jeopardize the industry at large because it sort of sends a signal that we cannot trust in the U.S. government.ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥
Proposed Senate budget reconciliation cuts
The Senate budget reconciliation bill would:
- End clean electricity production and investment tax credits by 2028 for solar and wind technologies, moving up the date for beginning their phaseouts from 2032 to 2026
- Phase out a manufacturing production tax credit for critical minerals that had been permanent, starting in 2031
- Restrict production tax credit access for battery and other advanced manufacturing components that get ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥œmaterial assistanceÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥ from prohibited foreign entities
China would be a prohibited foreign entity, a designation effectively blocking the tax credit for most energy storage projects since China is the chief importer of energy storage materials and components to the U.S.
ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥œI would say a disruption like what has been planned by the House could postpone at least 25% to 30% of the production that IÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™m aware of now,ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥ Pickering said when asked what scale of long-term energy production decrease he expects from the legislation.
Pickering said his company has two projects that would yield a 15% increase in its production capacity on hold while the company is ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥œwaiting to see whatÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™s going on.ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥
In a mostly party-line 215-214 vote last month, the House reconciliation bill passed with key support from Reps. Carol Miller and Riley Moore, both R-W.Va., the latter hailing the bill as a blow to the ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥œGreen New Scam.ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥
Abramson said the Clean Energy Business Network has heard from ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥œmany companiesÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥ in the network that debate over the tax credits is jeopardizing investments in projects across the nation even though the proposed rollbacks havenÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™t yet been enacted.
ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥˜We need all of them working togetherÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™
The Senate reconciliation bill would terminate a clean hydrogen production credit for projects that begin construction after Dec. 31, a move expected to be a setback for the Appalachian Regional Clean Hydrogen Hub.
The hub, known as ARCH2, is a planned regional hydrogen production, storage and delivery network the federal government selected for up to $925 million in funding in 2023 through the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act approved by Congress in 2022 under then-President Joe Biden.
Most West Virginia leaders have embraced ARCH2, not aligning with community and environmental advocates who fear the project will be an economic boondoggle that fails to meaningfully reduce air pollution.
But ARCH2 had been losing project development partners even before Trump was elected for a second time in November, with Chemours and CNX Resources Corp. citing hydrogen production tax credit concerns after exiting as partners.
Frank Wolak, president and CEO of the Fuel Cell & Hydrogen Energy Association, which has member companies developing hydrogen and fuel cell projects in West Virginia, said during TuesdayÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™s news conference the clean hydrogen production tax credit is his priority.
ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥œBut so many of the other credits also accrue to the benefit of hydrogen and just clean energy in general,ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥ Wolak said. ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥œAnd we need all of them working together.ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥
The Senate reconciliation bill would restrict other tax credits Wolak views as in an ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥œecosystem of investment,ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥ including for clean electricity investment and sustainable aviation fuel production.
An ARCH2 spokesperson didnÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™t respond to a request for comment.
Capito claims reconciliation package is ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥˜family billÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™
Capito spoke in favor of a ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥œbetter transitionÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥ for some energy tax credits, including for hydrogen production, in a June 12 call with reporters.
But Capito, who also chairs the Senate Republican Policy Committee, signaled support for the reconciliation bill during a Senate GOP leadership news briefing Tuesday, claiming it is ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥œa family bill from beginning to end.ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥ Capito alluded to a provision in the proposal that would make permanent a child tax credit of $2,000 per child instead of dropping from $2,000 to $1,000 per child starting in 2026 under current law.
The Senate reconciliation bill, though, would make sweeping cuts to Medicaid and food benefits for low-income people. The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, a progressive think tank, has projected it would cause 16 million people to become uninsured.
Trump has pushed Congress to pass the budget reconciliation bill for him to sign into law as soon as possible.
ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥œTo my friends in the Senate, lock yourself in a room if you must, donÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™t go home, and GET THE DEAL DONE THIS WEEK,ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥ Trump posted on his social media platform Tuesday.
Business Council for Sustainable Energy President Lisa Jacobson and other industry proponents hope Congress doesnÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™t lock the state out of an economically and environmentally greener energy future.
ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥œWhat is being proposed right now will disrupt businesses and create significant job losses,ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥ Jacobson said, ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥œespecially in states like West Virginia.ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥
