The Big Beautiful Bill is close to passing. What would it mean for clean energy in the US?

This week the US budget reconciliation legislation, dubbed the ‘One Big Beautiful Bill’, squeaked through the Senate on a 51/50 vote. The bill has wide-ranging implications for energy in the US, including an imminent end to tax credits for wind and solar power. 

To discuss what the new legislation means, host Ed Crooks is joined by regular guest Amy Myers-Jaffe, director of NYU’s Energy, Climate Justice and Sustainability Lab. Also joining the show are Robbie Orvis, senior director of Modeling and Analysis at the think-tank Energy Innovation, and Jeremy Horan, VP for Government Affairs at ACORE, the American Council on Renewable Energy. 

They discuss some of the key implications of bill: less investment in wind and solar, increased use of natural gas, and a relatively bright outlook for battery storage. And they explain the dramatic twists and turns of the past few days that have brought us to where we are today. 

They also dive into the impacts of the dreaded rules on FEOC: Foreign Entities of Concern. These are new regulations intended to ensure that companies controlled by China and Russia, among others, don’t benefit from US energy subsidies. But they will have the effect of tying the industry up in a mountain of new red tape. 

Before that, Ed and Amy talk about an even more dramatic event in global energy: the US intervention in the Israel-Iran conflict. The US dropped 30,000 pound ‘bunker-buster’ bombs on Iranian nuclear facilities. Iran retaliated with threats to close the Straight of Hormuz: the critical artery that delivers oil from the Gulf to the West. But by the middle of last week, tensions had eased significantly: there was a ceasefire, and negotiations were under way to agree a lasting peace. 

Put it all together, and it adds up to a hectic couple of weeks for the future of energy. Expect in-depth analysis of all the news, and ideas on how the energy industry can prepare for what’s coming.

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