Congress isn’t getting a summer vacation until the One Big Beautiful reconciliation bill is passed. Debate continues as the House and Senate clash on key priorities, including rolling back the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA)’s solar and wind subsidies (enacted in the form of tax credits).
At least 21 House Republicans signed a public letter in March opposing a full repeal of the IRA energy subsidies. Numerous Senate Republicans support a more tapered version of the repeal, claiming they will “phase out” certain provisions over time. But failing to fully reverse these solar and wind subsidies is a grave mistake — and President Trump agrees.
Congress should completely repeal the IRA’s solar and wind subsidies to restore the weakened American electric grid and save trillions in taxpayer dollars. As the country’s energy demand surges due to new technologies and population growth, it’s time to stop subsidizing failure and let energy innovation respond to real-world demand.
Today, the United States is powered by electricity, from artificial intelligence data centers to home appliances. More and more of the U.S. power grid relies on solar panels, which often produce only about a quarter of their rated capacity. This shortfall is expected to cause an alarming 30% gap between electricity supply and demand by the end of the decade.
The IRA subsidies for solar, as well as wind, jumble the energy market by subsidizing a simply inconsistent energy source — leading to blackouts, price fluctuation, and unpredictability. Americans cannot predict when a cloudy week might wreck their electric bill as a result of lawmakers’ presumptive decisions. If consumers want solar or wind energy, let them buy it. But these subsidies are dictating outcomes, not creating choices.
As the federal government already sits $37 trillion dollars and counting in debt, the estimated costs of the IRA subsidies are simply an economic catastrophe in the making. Updated projections forecast they would cost $1.2 trillion over ten years, with that number reaching $4.7 trillion by 2050 and even more beyond. While substantially increasing the national debt, these subsidies would also perpetuate inflation and reduce America’s capacity to invest in national security and future generations.
A watered down partial repeal, as suggested by some Congressional Republicans, does not go far enough. Every extra year of these subsidies means another summer where millions of Americans could lose power. Blackouts can be dangerous, especially for the elderly, disabled, and working class families who can’t afford to go without air conditioning or lose money from spoiled food. And the debt will keep climbing.
These narrower proposals miss out on roughly a quarter-to-half a trillion dollars in savings for Americans in the decades to come. Cutting off new subsidized projects by the end of this administration, and closing additional loopholes, is the only logical way to prevent new leadership from renewing the IRA.
America’s energy future should be built on innovation, resilience, and real consumer demand — not trillion-dollar guesswork by Washington. The IRA subsidies were sold as a smart investment, with promises of jobs and economic growth. Those fantasies never came to fruition, while taxpayers bear the costs of unreliable solar and wind dependency.
Congress should repeal them entirely and stop forcing Americans to pay for climate giveaways that don’t serve their needs. Households across the country need to keep the lights on and their red, white & blue popsicles cool in the freezer. Don’t let subsidies turn the grid off!
