Wyoming’s top politicians have heaped praise on President Donald Trump’s “Big Beautiful Bill” for giving the state’s flagging fossil fuel industries a boost. They’ve also taken swipes at past congressional efforts to support wind and solar — the cheapest and fastest-growing energy sector in the nation, including in the Equality State, federal data shows.
While promoting coal, oil and natural gas via tax breaks, the bill includes several punishing policies for wind and solar: chiefly, a much quicker phase out of tax credits that industry experts say will jeopardize hundreds of projects. The result will be higher electric bills and unfulfilled job growth in a stunted electrical power sector, according to initial reactions and analysis in the industry.
“Today’s Congressional action is a dramatic swing in federal policy, disrupting the good faith investments of American companies that are powering our economy and creating hundreds of thousands of jobs,” American Clean Power Association CEO Jason Grumet said in a prepared statement.
Such grim predictions apply to Wyoming, where electricity customers may experience a 29% increase over the next decade, according to one analysis. There are also several wind and solar developers in the state who were counting on the tax credits for a longer period. How many of those projects might squeak forward and how many may fall by the wayside is difficult to say. But some industry watchers, and politicians, in Wyoming warn that the long-term implications will not be good for ratepayers or local governments.
