Clean Energy Isn’t Partisan—But the Senate Needs to Prove It

By Gabe Phillips, CEO of Catalyst Power

I may have been too credulous about the backbone of the Republicans in my recent LinkedIn article…

It’s true that clean energy shouldn't be a partisan issue, and that’s true with the voters–but it’s up to those in the Senate to prove their commitment, now. The Budget bill that recently passed the House slashed most clean energy incentives—including the Investment Tax Credit (ITC), 45Y, 48E, and key provisions like transferability. These tools have allowed small and mid-sized businesses to take control of their energy use, reduce utility bills, and, in many cases, generate new revenue by leasing their rooftops for solar, vacant parking lots for batteries and assisting utilities in maintaining reliability.

Despite signing the letter urging support of clean energy, when it came time to vote, nearly all of those dozens of Republican lawmakers voted for the House Bill that would gut the very policies they claimed to support.

The lone exception? Rep. Andrew Garbarino (R-NY-02), who led the letter effort. He didn’t vote—which is better than voting for the bill, but still a half measure. The bill passed 215–214. His absence let it happen. Now, after voting for the bill or abstaining, thirteen Republicans signed a new letter asking the Senate to protect the incentives they voted to slash–and now, early drafts point to the Senate folding as well. 

If this bill becomes law, it will hurt all energy consumers across the country—especially in energy-constrained regions where commercial and industrial companies are already struggling to manage rising costs.

At Catalyst Power, we serve the kinds of businesses most affected by this uncertainty—manufacturers, food processors, warehouses, farmers, and local building owners. These are companies without in-house energy teams or access to complex financing structures. They’re focused on managing operating costs and staying competitive, like nearly all business owners in America are. The IRA’s improvements to the ITC—particularly long-term stability, adders for communities impacted negatively by our country’s transition away from coal and the added concept of transferability—are what make clean energy projects financially viable for them.

Rolling back these provisions makes these money-saving projects impossible. And that creates a double whammy for businesses and the broader energy system:

First, due to the foreign entity of concern provisions, no solar or battery project could qualify for the ITC in the future, making it impossible for small and mid-sized businesses to install on-site generation like solar and storage. Further, without the transferability mechanism, the upfront costs to monetize the ITC is back to being a barrier that most independent businesses simply can’t clear. The result is that practically no companies can take control of their energy supply or generate additional revenue from their facilities through implementing solar or storage.

Second, it means less cheap, clean power on the grid at exactly the moment we need more energy supply. Energy demand is rising, every AI search uses 10X the energy your old Google searches used to use, and every megawatt of solar that doesn’t get built is one that must be replaced by more expensive, fuel-dependent generation. The fewer distributed energy resources in the market, the more upward pressure on electricity prices, which hurts businesses and ratepayers alike.

You might ask, “If solar and storage are so cheap, why do they need tax incentives?” It’s a fair question. The answer is simple: solar and storage have no ongoing marginal costs to produce, once installed. But upfront capital costs are still a hurdle—especially for smaller players. The ITC helps overcome that barrier and reduce financing friction. It’s not about picking winners; it’s about accelerating access to the technologies that lower energy costs for everyone.

This isn’t a theoretical debate. These incentives have brought capital into the market, created jobs, helped stabilize electricity prices, and made it possible for businesses of all sizes to participate in building a more affordable, resilient energy system.

Now it is up to the Senate.

If clean energy really isn’t partisan, the Senate needs to prove it. Businesses don’t care about party lines—they care about cost, certainty, and whether a project can move forward. We need stable, predictable policy—not another round of short-term reversals that leave small businesses holding the bag.

It’s time to show up, not sit out.