Sen. Wyden presses Wright over rollback of clean-energy tax credits

Sen. Wyden pressed a witness, Mr. Wright, at a Senate Committee on Finance hearing about the administration’s decision to remove clean-energy tax credits, saying the change has harmed solar and wind projects and contributed to higher electricity costs.

Wyden began the exchange by saying, “you and the president threw most of the clean energy tax credits in the garbage can and took a wrecking ball to solar and wind energy projects.” He asked why the administration would continue “this ideological crusade against clean energy” as demand, prices and manufacturing pressures rise.

Mr. Wright replied by framing energy policy as a matter of "people and math," saying those principles guided the administration’s approach. He argued there is “a role for wind and solar,” but said mandates and subsidies have distorted electricity markets. "The production tax credit, for example, for wind power pays from the federal government 4¢ per kilowatt hour," Wright said, and added that when wind generation increases, gas-fired plants are turned down and the market saves roughly 2¢ — creating what he described as a net subsidy.

Wyden disputed Wright’s characterization of industry positions and policy effects, calling some of the testimony "fiction" and saying that natural gas interests had publicly supported clean energy but were rebuffed.

The exchange centered on competing interpretations of how tax credits and mandates affect prices and reliability. Wyden emphasized that prior credits were technologically neutral and voluntary, and said their removal undercuts investment in renewables; Wright emphasized the administration’s concern about market distortions from subsidies.

The committee moved on after the exchange; Sen. Barrasso was recognized to speak next.