Federal rollbacks and freezes shrink Vermont energy grants and credits, witnesses say

Federal policy changes in 2025 have reduced or delayed a range of clean‑energy incentives and grants Vermont officials had counted on, federal and state witnesses told the House Committee on Energy and Digital Infrastructure on Oct. 30. Rebecca Ellis, state director for Sen. Peter Welch, and Ethan Hinch, senior policy adviser for Sen. Bernie Sanders, said the combined effect of congressional rescissions and executive cancellations narrows state options for weatherization, rooftop solar and other programs.

Ellis reviewed four major federal packages that have shaped recent state plans: the American Rescue Plan Act, the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (also called the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act), the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), and the recently enacted measure widely referenced in testimony as the "1 Big Beautiful Bill Act" (OBBBA). "The OBBBA," Ellis said, "moved us back to where we were before" the IRA in projected emissions and in many of the incentives…