The Green-Energy Bill Is Finally Coming Due

 Rahm Emanuel conflates “taxpayers” with “ratepayers” as he laments the federal government’s reductions of energy tax credits in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (“Big Electric Bill? Thank Trump,” op-ed, Sept. 18).

There’s plenty to debate about these incentives, but no one in or around government should pretend they’re free. The U.S. Treasury last year estimated the two biggest energy-related credits, used primarily to subsidize wind and solar projects, would cost taxpayers $425 billion over the next decade.

Congress slashed future taxpayer costs by phasing out these credits. The ratepayer cost and profile of future electricity generation will now change. Instead of putting more charges on the national credit card, more of the cost of electricity generation will show up on monthly bills. This will prompt discussion about the state and federal policies that, years before the big, beautiful bill, caused electricity rates to begin climbing. Here’s hoping it sparks a bit more interest in what else is pushing our national debt toward the $40 trillion mark.

Ken Girardin

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