Act Now to Protect Energy Incentives That Help Americans Save

Since its inception in 2006, the investment tax credit has helped millions of Americans go solar and save. In 2022, Congress extended the ITC and added new ones that made installing heat pumps and other energy efficient upgrades affordable. New tax credits also jump-started American manufacturing and clean energy deployment thanks to a decade of stable policy.

The House of Representative’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act would take that win-win-win scenario and tear it up, raising the average family’s energy bill by as much as $400. 

As the bill heads to the Senate, your Senators need to hear from you that eliminating key tax credits that support energy affordability is the wrong move.

Here’s how to do it.

1. Review the talking points and scripts below.
2. Find your members of Congress and their contact info here.
3. Call or email your representatives to share your support for the solar tax credit and incentives.

(You can make advocating for solar even easier by submitting comments with a group like Solar United Neighbors.)

Key Fixes to One Big Beautiful Bill Act

Four key provisions are particularly important to residential solar.

1. Tax credits for leases: The House bill removes tax credit eligibility for leased systems. Tax credits for leased systems keep payments affordable and open a pathway to solar savings for many who otherwise wouldn’t be able to afford it. Removing them makes solar more expensive and puts solar savings out of reach for more people. The Senate should allow tax credits for leased solar.
2. FEOC provisions: The House bill imposes draconian foreign entity of concern, or FEOC, requirements, that would choke off supply of solar equipment. Everyone wants American made solar panels and solar manufacturing is growing with the help of existing tax credits. Unworkable FEOC requirements would crush the solar industry new manufacturers are counting on. The industry needs FEOC requirements it can work with until domestic manufacturing is at full strength.
3. Unrealistic timelines: The House wants to require that projects will only be eligible for tax credits if they are placed in service 60 days after the passage of the bill. That deadline is too short for most clean energy projects and would create chaos. A longer timeline for tax credit eligibility is an important fix to this bill.
4. Tax credit transferability: The House also would eliminate tax credit transferability, an important measure that has helped expand solar leasing, making home solar panels accessible to people who wouldn’t otherwise be able to afford it. Extending tax credit transferability would support adding affordable electricity generation just when we need it the most.

If these aren’t made, the One Big Beautiful Bill Act could have a hugely negative effect on the solar industry. Solar employs nearly 280,000 people nationwide, and has helped millions of Americans go solar and save. Newly announced investments that count on these tax credits that would add thousands of jobs more would also be at risk.

Scripts for Contacting Your Senators

If you’re not sure what to say, here’s a phone script you can adapt to be your own.

Hello, my name is [your name]. I’m a constituent from [your town] and am calling to express my concern over the House of Representative’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act. As written, the bill threatens clean energy jobs and savings for millions of Americans.

Please fight for a bill that’s better and includes strong support for tax credits, including tax credit eligibility for third-party ownership of solar panels, a workable foreign entity of concern provision, continued tax credit transferability, and a timeline for tax credit eligibility longer than 60 days.

The clean energy tax credits targeted in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act have saved millions of Americans money directly by supporting their switch to solar. Removing them would raise electricity rates and could threaten energy reliability. They have also helped create hundreds of thousands of well-paying jobs that would be at risk without them.

America needs all the electricity it can get, and Americans need opportunities to save. You can deliver both by protecting smart, effective tax credits and standing with American families and workers.

Thank you.

If you’d rather write, here's an email script you can copy and paste after you fill in the blanks. Remember that a personalized message goes the farthest.

Subject: Please protect the solar tax credit

Dear [Senator] [Last Name],

I’m a constituent writing to urge you to make necessary changes to the One Big Beautiful Bill Act. As written, the bill threatens clean energy jobs and savings for millions of Americans.

Please fight for a better bill that includes strong support for solar tax credits including

1. tax credit eligibility for third-party ownership of solar panels,
2. a workable foreign entity of concern provision
3. continued tax credit transferability
4. and a timeline for tax credit eligibility longer than 60 days.

The clean energy tax credits targeted in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act have saved millions of Americans money directly by supporting their switch to solar. Removing them would raise electricity rates and could threaten energy reliability. They have also helped create hundreds of thousands of well-paying jobs that would be at risk without them.

America needs all the electricity it can get, and Americans need opportunities to save. You can deliver both by protecting smart, effective tax credits and standing with American families and workers.

Sincerely,  

[Your Full Name]  

[Your Address]  

[City, State, ZIP]  

[Your Phone Number]  

[Your Email Address]

Reasons to Keep the Clean Investment Tax Credit

The value of solar energy is clear, but if you’re looking for a few talking points, here are some quick hitting facts from the Solar Energy Industries Association.

Solar incentives are popular: Nearly 9 in 10 Americans voiced support for clean energy incentives that support solar. Further, 75% of people said solar is good for the American economy and 74% said solar saves Americans money, according to a poll conducted before the 2024 election.

Solar supports America’s grid: Solar and battery storage is expected to make up 81% of new generation on the grid in 2025, according to the US Energy Information Administration. This is at a time when demand for electricity is expected to increase rapidly.

Solar is widespread: There are more than 5 million solar installations in the US. Most of them are on homes.

Solar supports jobs: More than 275,000 Americans work in the solar industry.

Solar is growing: By 2030, 15% of US homes could have solar panels.

Solar is clean: Solar has reduced emissions by millions of tons of carbon each year, resulting in cleaner air for everyone.

Solar leases are a key piece of the puzzle: In the last decade for which we have data, third party ownership of solar has made up 25% to 57% of residential installations.