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Clean energy sector reacts to potential policy shifts after Trump victory


The clean energy sector is in the midst of reacting to President-elect Donald Trump’s return to the White House. Experts suggest that while his administration may slow the growth of renewable power infrastructure throughout the U.S., it will not be able to stop its proliferation altogether.

This is in part because the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) of 2022, a key climate policy passed under the Biden administration, will be difficult to repeal, despite Republicans’ recently acquired control of the Senate.

Red states have actually received most of the jobs and economic impacts provided by the IRA, a trend which could lead some GOP lawmakers to preserve the decade’s worth of planned government subsidies for renewable projects that this legislation provides.

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However, policy analysts say that absent a repeal of the IRA, Trump’s administration could still make it more difficult for the clean energy funding it calls for to be dispersed. This could potentially be done by cutting or restricting the budgets of the federal agencies that deliver IRA grants and loans.

Trump could also issue executive orders to reduce or place a moratorium on federal leasing areas for renewable projects, such as offshore wind.

Investors have already reacted to the potential policy changes, as clean energy stocks saw sharp declines following the election. Wind energy developers experienced a drop of up to 14%, while solar company shares fell by as much as 40%, underscoring market concerns about the future of federal support for renewables.

Trump campaign officials have stated that their energy agenda will diversify the nation’s power supply sources, reduce electricity costs and save taxpayers billions of dollars which would have been used to subsidize renewable projects.

Conversely, a report by the nonpartisan think tank Energy Innovation claims that Trump’s policies could increase household utility bills by a combined $32 billion and kill about 1.7 million clean energy jobs over time.

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[Jack Aylmer]

THE CLEAN ENERGY SECTOR IS RESPONDING TO PRESIDENT ELECT DONALD TRUMP’S VICTORY.

EXPERTS PREDICT HIS RETURN TO THE OVAL OFFICE WILL SLOW DOWN-

BUT NOT ENTIRELY STOP-

THE EXPANSION OF RENEWABLE POWER INFRASTRUCTURE IN THE U.S.

THAT’S IN PART BECAUSE A REPEAL OF THE BIDEN ADMINISTRATION’S SIGNATURE CLIMATE LAW, THE INFLATION REDUCTION ACT, WOULD LIKELY BE DIFFICULT.

EVEN WITH GOP CONTROL OF THE SENATE, ANALYSTS SAY THIS COULD STILL BE THE CASE BECAUSE THE MAJORITY OF JOBS AND ECONOMIC BENEFITS ITS SUPPLIED HAVE GONE TO RED STATES. 

MEANING THE DECADE OF GOVERNMENT SUBSIDIES FOR NEW CLEAN-ENERGY PROJECTS THAT THIS LEGISLATION SUPPORTS IS EXPECTED TO CONTINUE.

HOWEVER, TRUMP CAN MAKE IT MORE DIFFICULT FOR THOSE FUNDS TO BE DISPERSED.

POTENTIALLY DOING SO BY HINDERING FEDERAL AGENCIES THAT DELIVER INFLATION REDUCTION ACT GRANTS AND LOANS-

OR USING EXECUTIVE ORDERS TO REDUCE FEDERAL LEASING AREAS FOR RENEWABLE PROJECTS SUCH AS OFFSHORE WIND.

INVESTORS HAVE ALREADY INDICATED THEIR FEARS THAT SUCH ACTIONS WILL BE TAKEN-

WITH MANY CLEAN ENERGY STOCKS DROPPING IN THE WAKE OF THIS WEEK’S PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION RESULTS.

WIND DEVELOPERS SAW THEIR STOCKS FALL BY AS MUCH AS 14 PERCENT ON WEDNESDAY-

AS SHARES IN SOLAR COMPANIES EXPERIENCED DROPS OF UP TO 40 PERCENT.

ULTIMATELY, TRUMP CAMPAIGN OFFICIALS SAY HIS ENERGY POLICIES WILL DIVERSIFY THE NATION’S OPTIONS FOR POWER GENERATION, REDUCE ELECTRIC COSTS AND SAVE TAXPAYERS BILLIONS OF DOLLARS.

THE NON-PARTISAN THINK TANK ‘ENERGY INNOVATION’ ASSERTS TRUMP’S POLICIES WILL INSTEAD INCREASE HOUSEHOLD UTILITY BILLS BY A COMBINED 32 BILLION DOLLARS, WHILE KILLING NEARLY 2 MILLION CLEAN ENERGY JOBS.

TO GET MORE CONTEXT ABOUT HOW THE 2024 PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION WILL IMPACT HOW U.S. ENERGY POLICY, DOWNLOAD THE STRAIGHT ARROW NEWS APP AND SIGN UP FOR ALERTS FROM ME- JACK AYLMER.