NEW: For Months, Miller-Meeks Warned of Consequences of Repealing Key Energy Tax Credits. Then, She Voted to Repeal Them. [The Gazette]

New reporting from The Gazette highlights that for months, Mariannette Miller-Meeks warned about the consequences of repealing key energy tax credits – specifically, warning that “multiple [energy] projects would be ‘jeopardized’ if the tax credits were repealed” and that “repealing the credits would lead to a 10 percent increase in consumer electricity costs.”

Then, Miller-Meeks cast the deciding vote to repeal these tax credits.

It’s a spineless, pathetic display from Miller-Meeks, who knows that her vote will raise Iowans’ prices and jeopardize energy projects across her district.

DCCC Spokesperson Katie Smith:
“Mariannette Miller-Meeks knows that her vote to repeal energy tax credits will raise Iowans’ energy costs and jeopardize Iowa jobs – she said so herself, literally over and over. Miller-Meeks cast the deciding vote to raise Iowans’ electricity prices and cut Iowa energy jobs because she’s too cowardly to stand up for them.”

The Gazette: Iowa’s Miller-Meeks fought to save energy tax credits. Why she voted for Trump’s bill that rolls them back and what it means for Iowa

• Clean energy advocates warn Iowa stands to lose jobs and renewable energy project expansions, and businesses and households will see an increase in utility bills if Congress passes President Donald Trump’s budget reconciliation bill as is.
• Iowa U.S. Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks, who represents southeast Iowa, made similar warnings to House Republican leaders urging them to maintain the Inflation Reduction Act’s energy tax credits.
• The Republican incumbent — who is expected to run for re-election to a fourth term in 2026 — however, has come under fire from Democrats and the same clean energy advocates for voting to pass the tax and spending policy bill despite her push to preserve the tax credits that would be rolled back under the legislation.
• Nearly three-fifths of Iowa’s total electricity generation comes from renewable sources, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, which also reports Iowa is one of the top states for solar and wind energy generation.
• The reconciliation bill passed by the House and being considered by the Senate — referred to as Trump’s “one big beautiful bill” — proposes significant changes to clean energy tax credits established under the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA)… The bill accelerates the phaseout and, in some cases, effectively eliminates key clean energy tax credits, including those for wind, solar and battery storage projects.
• Miller-Meeks repeatedly advocated for maintaining the IRA’s energy tax credits. In August 2024, Miller-Meeks was one of 18 House Republicans who signed on to a letter to House Speaker Mike Johnson pushing him to preserve the IRA’s energy tax credits, touting the jobs they had created and the investments made across America by multiple companies because of them.
• The August 2024 letter warned: “Today, many U.S. companies are already using sector-wide energy tax credits — many of which have enjoyed bipartisan support historically — to make major investments in new U.S. energy infrastructure.
• “We hear from industry and our constituents who fear the energy tax regime will once again be turned on its head due to Republican repeal efforts,” the letter continues. “Prematurely repealing energy tax credits, particularly those which were used to justify investments that already broke ground, would undermine private investments and stop development that is already ongoing. A full repeal would create a worst-case scenario where we would have spent billions of taxpayer dollars and received next to nothing in return.”
• Miller-Meeks and Republican co-signers also pointed out, “Energy tax credits have spurred innovation, incentivized investment, and created good jobs in many parts of the country — including many districts represented by members of our conference.”
• In March 2025, Rep. Miller-Meeks signed on to a letter to Ways And Means Committee Chairman Jason Smith, warning that multiple projects would be “jeopardized” if the tax credits were repealed.
• In May 2025, Rep. Miller-Meeks signed on to another letter to Rep. Smith saying she strongly supported the energy tax credits and asking him to preserve them, warning that repealing the credits would lead to a 10 percent increase in consumer electricity costs.
• In January, at a House Ways And Means Committee Hearing, Miller-Meeks testified that the IRA’s energy tax credits were “delivering” economic benefits to communities nationwide, and that their repeal “would be a setback to clean energy, and importantly economic growth, and put Brazil first, not America first.”
• New clean energy and manufacturing projects have seen substantial growth in Iowa and across the country since new federal tax incentives were put in place in 2022, according to Climate Power, a strategic communications firm highlighting how clean energy investments benefit local communities.
• This repeal comes at a time when energy costs and utility bills are already going up, and will increase more if energy sources like wind and solar are not available to meet much higher demand, according to the firm.
• A study by Clean Energy Buyers Association (CEBA) determined that repealing the federal investment (§48E) and the production tax credits (§45Y) would raise electricity and natural gas prices, lead to job losses and economic slowdown, and lower household incomes across 19 states between 2026 and 2032.
• In Iowa, CEBA estimates the reconciliation bill will lead to 5,000 fewer jobs, a $370 average loss in annual household income and a $590 million decrease in goods and services produced in the state.
• According to Climate Power, if tax credits and key pollution regulations are repealed as outlined in the House reconciliation bill, Iowa households would see an average increase in annual electricity bills of $67 in both 2030 and 2035, and annual energy bill increases of $132 in both 2030 and 2035.
• Five new clean energy projects have been announced and private companies have announced plans to create 1,102 new clean energy jobs in the state since the passage of the IRA.

###