Wyoming Wants Renewables — Why Isn’t The Trump Administration Listening? – CleanTechnica

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Last Updated on: 27th July 2025, 02:06 pm

On one hand, politicians in Wyoming are delighted that the Project 2025-inspired “Big Beautiful Bill” will enhance support via tax breaks for the state’s faltering fossil fuel industry. Ironically, the same politicians are also a bit pissy that wind and solar — the cheapest and fastest-growing energy sector in the state and nation — are under real threat of collapse.

Wyoming generates about 10,200 megawatts of electricity from all sources, according to state and federal data. Nearly one-third comes from wind and solar, and one megawatt is enough electricity to power about 750 homes. More than half the electrons generated in the state are exported to customers outside Wyoming’s borders.

The upcoming loss of tax credits will have statewide effects due to the demise of hundreds of electrical power sector projects and the long-term consequences of that industry vacuum.

Many Wyoming politicians are wary of coming face-to-face with their constituents, who’ll be paying higher electricity bills.

“While the new policies are a step backward, the combination of surging demand for electric power and economic benefits of renewable energy technologies ensure that clean power will continue to play a significant and growing role in our nation’s energy mix,” American Clean Power Association CEO Jason Grumet insists. “Our economic and national security requires that we support all forms of American energy. It is time for the brawlers to get out of the way and let the builders get back to work.”

The Wyoming Tribune Eagle reports that Power Company of Wyoming’s Chokecherry and Sierra Madre Wind Energy Project in Carbon County will add more than 3,500 megawatts of electrical generation capacity, boosting the state’s power generation by 34%. The 600-turbine project qualifies for federal tax credits,

Developers had planned to begin producing wind energy in phases, with the target date of 2030 to place the project into full capacity operation. This and other major additions to Wyoming’s electrical generation industry is uncertain.

Wyoming, known for its extremely cold winters, has by far the steepest average monthly cost of energy, according to a WalletHub report: $1,591 — in large part because it consumes the most motor fuel and residential oil per capita, and has the highest monthly prices for both. One consumer advocacy group — Clean Energy Buyers Association, whose 400 members include Microsoft, Amazon, and Google — warned that if the renewable energy sector loses the 45Y and 48E production and investment tax credits, it would raise the cost of electricity in Wyoming by an average 29% — the steepest increase in the nation.

Trump signed the executive order directing the Treasury Department to “strictly enforce the termination of the clean electricity production and investment tax credits under sections 45Y and 48E of the Internal Revenue Code for wind and solar facilities.” Projects must begin construction before July 4, 2026 and be operational by the end of 2027, shaving several years off the previous eligibility timeline. The deadline sounds workable until reality sets in: permitting can take years during a favorable administration, which Trump and colleagues are not.

The executive order condemns commercial wind and solar development, saying it “denigrates the beauty of our nation’s natural landscape,” “displaces” affordable domestic energy sources, is “unreliable,” and poses a threat to national security for relying on supplies from “foreign entities of concern.”

A 2025 University of Wyoming survey reveals Wyoming residents overwhelmingly believe that changes in water resources and climate are happening, and risks can be reduced with community response plans and statewide policies.

Wyoming is one of the few states in the nation that imposes a tax on wind energy generation, producing millions of dollars each year that are split between the state and the counties hosting wind power plants. An argument that politicians in Wyoming may use to prop up ongoing wind and solar plant construction is the cost-share built into the Trump order that will split federal rents and fees with local governments hosting wind and solar facilities.

How did the Trump Administration get Renewables So Wrong?

The conversion to renewable energy-powered production has been remarkable over the last few years. At least 160 clean energy manufacturing facilities or expansions have been announced since August 2022, driven by tax credits in the Inflation Reduction Act, with 47 declared in 2024 alone. Collectively, these facilities are expected to result in 100,000 new manufacturing jobs and at least $500 billion in investment, $75 billion of which has already been spent.

Despite the interest of overseas investors in pursuing renewable energy opportunities in the US, on April 8 Trump issued an order aimed at force-feeding more coal back into the nation’s power generation profile. The Associated Press ran the story under the headline, “Trump signs executive orders to boost coal, a reliable but polluting energy source.”

The US solar industry has been working overtime to convince Republican members of Congress that solar energy can deliver more kilowatts, more quickly, than any other form of power generation. Solar developers had been at a particularly strong advantage in the wake of Biden-era policies that saw a massive surge in solar manufacturing capacity in the US, providing developers with a robust domestic pipeline for solar modules.

So, for the first time, solar and wind energy are now cheaper than coal, natural gas, or oil and are the quickest options for installing new electricity generation. Solar is now growing faster than any power source in history — people are constructing a gigawatt’s worth of solar panels every 15 hours. That’s more or less what one coal-fired plant generates.

In a special address this month at UN Headquarters in New York, UN Secretary‑General António Guterres declared the world has “passed the point of no return” on the shift to renewables. He cited surging clean energy investment and plunging solar and wind costs that now outcompete fossil fuels. “The energy transition is unstoppable, but the transition is not yet fast enough or fair enough,” he said, asking the audience to “follow the money.” He mentioned that $2 trillion flowed into clean energy last year — $800 billion more than fossil fuels and up almost 70%.

Yet, as Politico reported this week, Norway’s Equinor announced a $955 million write-down due to its bleak outlook for future offshore wind projects. GE Vernova said sales of its wind turbines were down while orders for gas turbines were rising. Executives at NextEra Energy, the country’s largest renewable developer, spoke delicately about how wind, solar, and batteries represented the fastest and cheapest way to meet rising electricity demand — while, in the same conversation, praising Trump’s energy policies.