If the Republican-controlled Senate doesn’t drastically roll back the “one big beautiful bill’s” cuts to the Inflation Reduction Act’s climate spending tax credits, the Biden-era clean energy party could be over. The IRA credits created a clean energy boom in the United States, partly by allowing the credits to be transferable—small clean energy projects could sell tax credits to a giant corporation with a higher tax burden, or a clean energy developer could pass off the tax credit to a corporation that invested a small percentage in the project. “The tax credits previously were one component that were used in doing that valuation calculation or the return on investment calculation to have it make sense,” Maura Hodge, US sustainability leader at KPMG, told CFO Brew. Altus Power, a commercial solar power developer, partners with companies like banks or other institutions to place and operate solar panels on corporate buildings, hospitals, and schools. According to the company’s CFO, Dustin Weber, the tax credit allowed them to keep the overall cost of the projects down and grow the business much faster by attracting corporate partners. “Their primary economic motivation is to get the investment tax credit to offset some of their tax liabilities,” Weber told CFO Brew. But the budget bill the House passed on May 22 would eliminate this transferability in two years if the bill becomes law. What’s next for green energy tax breaks?—JK |