Trump’s budget cuts throw U.S. renewable energy jobs into doubt

• Biden-era incentives worth hundreds of billions of dollars
• Tax credits boost renewable projects to record levels
• Trump cost-cutting could weaken or eliminate credits

WASHINGTON - As U.S. budget talks heat up in Washington, workers worry spending cuts could stop growth in renewable energy in its tracks, taking away new infrastructure and jobs in the process.

Labour leaders say federal tax credits for green energy construction and production under former President Joe Biden have created a surge of new work – enticing young workers to take part in the U.S. energy transition in a sector that is quickly aging.

"We were slammed – pretty much full employment, everyone was making plenty of money," said Kilton Webb, a Maine electrician who saw his work opportunities skyrocket after a 2022 law created the incentives.

Webb worked on more than 15 solar fields, where electricians play key roles, but now fears many developers are spooked.

"You can feel it. From the first-year apprentice who just got into the field all the way up, they just don’t know what will happen day to day," said Webb, now a Maine state representative and union leader.

Renewable energy created twice as many jobs as the fossil fuel sector in 2023, according to a report from the Deloitte consultancy, and energy construction jobs grew twice as quickly as other construction projects.

The incentives are worth hundreds of billions of dollars and have come under scrutiny as legislators have sought to draw up a federal budget in line with President Donald Trump's broad cost-cutting efforts.

Lawmakers in May voted to start phasing them out in coming years and included language that experts say would decrease the number of eligible projects in the interim, as well as place new trade restrictions on key Chinese-made parts.

Budget talks have now moved to the Senate, with leaders hoping to send a bill to the president by early July.

On his first day in office, Trump declared a "national energy emergency," aiming to boost domestic energy production by speeding up approvals for new oil and gas production, pledging to create jobs and bring down energy costs.

Trump's subsequent budget proposal called for eliminating billions of dollars in funding for “unreliable renewable energy.”

A White House official said in an email that the budget under consideration will help construction and trade workers by increasing wages, incentivising new investments from construction firms and more.

'A hard conversation'

But labour groups say clean energy projects are a way to reinvigorate the construction sector.

"Transitioning from fossil to clean generation is a hard conversation for labour to have," said Pat Devaney, secretary-treasurer of the Illinois AFL-CIO, a union with 900,000 members.

"We have lots of jobs in fossil generation in parts of the state where there aren't a lot of other opportunities … But we’ve also seen a tremendous increase in the number of clean-energy projects coming into our state,” he said.

Illinois has more than 150 utility-scale green-energy projects either being developed or planned, he said, all of which are eligible for federal tax credits.

That represents more than 51,000 jobs and $56 billion in investment and will result in more than 33,000 megawatts of clean power, he said.

"That's a big deal for Illinois union workers," said Devaney. But the debate on cutting green energy credits has left him "extraordinarily concerned."

The tax credits, which reduce tax bills for developing such projects to make them more economically viable, were in place before Biden took office, but his administration expanded them and increased their timeline to a decade.

The longer timeline gave developers greater certainty, and renewables development rose to record heights last year, said Lori Bird, director of the U.S. energy programme at the WRI Polsky Center for the Global Energy Transition, a Washington think tank.

"They've been playing a really large part in new power plants coming onto the grid," she said.

Renewables made up more than 90% of energy capacity added in the United States last year, according to the American Clean Power Association.

Bird said the uncertainty created by the legislative debate on tax credits, along with new import tariffs, is already delaying projects that was drawing in younger workers.

More than a fifth of construction workers are above the age of 55, a proportion that doubled between 2003 and 2020, according to the federal government.

"When we're trying to recruit new individuals to an industry that's new market share for us, the questions they ask are: 'What kind of longevity am I going to see?'" said Kent Miller, president of the Wisconsin Laborers' District Council, an affiliation of five unions.

He said these unions had been "struggling" before the 2022 law but the approval of major solar projects has helped bring in new workers and a record number of apprentices.

In Illinois, that is the route that Myeisha Cook, 30, is now eying, after graduating in February from a new statewide pre-apprenticeship programme, including initial training and introductions to employers, for those who want to enter clean-energy construction.

She said she had a friend who installed solar panels, but was unsure whether the field was open to women.

The course helped Cook land a carpentry-related position, and she is keeping her eye on potential jobs in Chicago – building energy-efficient high-rises, perhaps, or working on a new subway extension.

"Clean energy is definitely going to be a big push in the future," she said by phone. "I do plan on seeing what the field has to offer."

(Reporting by Carey L. Biron; Editing by Jack Graham and Ayla Jean Yackley.)