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Ryan Mackenzie cast a critical vote for Republicans’ Big, Ugly Bill – and now his vote may hit his Lehigh Valley constituents hard in their wallets.
The Morning Call reports today that because of Mackenzie’s vote to gut commonsense energy tax credits, Pennsylvanians can expect to see “an increase in consumer energy costs.” The newspaper also reports that “question marks hover” over how Mackenzie’s vote could jeopardize long-term investments in Mack Trucks’ Lehigh Valley Operation and other economic opportunities in the Allentown area.
DCCC Spokesperson Eli Cousin:
“Ryan Mackenzie campaigned on a promise to lower costs for hardworking Lehigh Valley families, but instead he voted to jack up their electricity bills and rip away access to health care. Mackenzie is doing nothing to make life more affordable for Pennsylvanians – he is making things worse.”
Read the Morning Call’s reporting for yourself:
Morning Call: How the One Big Beautiful Bill Act will impact green energy investments in the Lehigh Valley
By Elizabeth Deornellas | July 21, 2025
- Green energy proponents are rushing to complete projects after the recently passed federal budget bill set expiration dates for tax credits that had spurred investment in technologies including electric vehicles and solar installations.
- Question marks hover over projects including Allentown’s electric vehicle pilot and Mack Trucks’ investment in electric garbage trucks as governments and businesses alike await further guidance as to whether ongoing, grant-funded work still aligns with the administration’s funding guidelines.
- The combination of expiring tax credits and uncertainty surrounding federal grant disbursement means investments that once looked like a sure thing are at best on a shorter timeline and at worst no longer financially feasible.
- Expiring tax credits also leave consumers with a short runway to take advantage of savings on solar arrays, home energy efficiency improvements and electric vehicles.
- Researching the funding landscape has always been a part of local government sustainability planning, but that process is becoming more uncertain, Vostinak said.
- “We’re spending a lot of time trying to figure out what is happening,” she said.
- As tax credits expire, solar companies will have to raise the rates they charge for electricity provided in purchase agreements and lower construction costs, which could mean asking subcontractors in the electrical trades to lower their rates, Partyka said.
- “I think it will make a lot of things like this — like Lehigh — may not be viable,” Partyka said.
- Consumers will need new options to save on energy bills as costs rise and the tax credits that subsidized household investments in green energy are set to end.
- Energy industry analysts forecast the budget bill will lead to a decrease in renewable energy generation, rising greenhouse gas emissions and an increase in consumer energy costs.
- Average energy costs for a U.S. household will rise $165 a year by 2030 and more than $280 a year by 2035, according to analysis from Princeton University’s ZERO Lab and Evolved Energy Research consultants.
- Pennsylvanians also took advantage of a tax credit for home energy efficiency improvements, with 134,720 taxpayers filing for more than $118 million in savings for tax year 2023. That credit, designed to pay for efficiencies such as better insulation, upgraded heating and cooling equipment, and home energy audits, will also expire at the end of the year.
- Tax credits for electric vehicles end at the end of September. A total of 10,680 Pennsylvanians claimed a Clean Vehicle Tax Credit in tax year 2023, with an average savings of $6,738. Another 820 Pennsylvanians claimed the credit for previously owned clean vehicles, with an average savings of $3,452.
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