NEW: “Pa. solar installers were counting on U.S. Rep. Fitzpatrick to keep tax credits. Some feel ‘abandoned’ by GOP rollbacks” [WHYY]

Blistering new reporting from WHYY details how Republican Congressman Brian Fitzpatrick “abandoned” workers in his district by casting a deciding vote in Congress to gut clean energy tax credits.

Because of Fitzpatrick’s vote, “the Solar Energy Industries Association predicts the loss of more than 4,300 jobs, and the closure of up to 20 current or pending factories in Pennsylvania.” 

One Pennsylvania energy company founder with dozens of employees across the state tells WHYY that “Fitzpatrick completely abandoned the renewable energy workers in his district,” after the congressman voiced his support for the tax credits but ultimately voted to gut them.

A local labor leader in PA slammed Fitzpatrick’s hypocrisy, telling WHYY that “when the rubber hits the road, he’s missing in action on the committee that writes the bill, and he ultimately votes for a bill that screws over workers in his district.” 

And what is Rep. Fitzpatrick’s response? WHYY reports that “multiple efforts to reach Fitzpatrick for this story went unanswered.” 

Read for yourself how Fitzpatrick abandoned workers in his district:

• Solar energy companies across the region are reeling at the prospect of rollbacks to the solar energy tax credits included in the budget bill that passed the U.S. House in May.
• “It’s terrible,” said Micah Gold-Markel, founder of Solar States, a solar energy installer that employs about 60 people in the region. “Trump really framed this as the ‘green waste of money.’ Well, if you think that people’s jobs and their livelihoods are a waste of money, then you’re missing the story of America.”
• The 30% tax credits have helped make solar affordable for many residents and businesses, especially since the up-front costs to install panels are high and can take time to recoup from resulting lower electricity bills. But the House budget passed on May 21 would eliminate the tax credit 60 days after the budget is approved.
• Gold-Markel said the tax credits helped him build his business, but if the provision gets approved by the U.S. Senate, it’s not clear whether it will survive.
• The GOP’s House budget bill would effectively end a surge in Biden-era solar energy projects that proponents say created jobs, boosted manufacturing and tackled climate change. Without the credits, the industry says utility bills will rise, along with job cuts. The Solar Energy Industries Association predicts the loss of more than 4,300 jobs, and the closure of up to 20 current or pending factories in Pennsylvania, if the current version of the rollback makes it into the final budget.
• The bill squeaked through by one vote along party lines, but solar installers, manufacturers and building trades unions in the region had hoped that support from Republican Congressman Brian Fitzpatrick would lessen the pain. Fitzpatrick, a moderate whose district includes Bucks and parts of Montgomery counties, voted for the budget bill. More importantly, he sits on the influential House Ways and Means Committee, which drafted the language of the bill, and proponents of the tax credits say he had reassured them he would defend the measures.
• “We intentionally met with [Fitzpatrick’s] office,” said Gold-Markel. “We brought workers in his district to show him that there are jobs at stake in his district. We showed him projects. Rep. Fitzpatrick completely abandoned the renewable energy workers in his district.”
• Multiple efforts to reach Fitzpatrick for this story went unanswered.
• The original language passed by the committee, which had phased out the credits over a number of years, was replaced by language that would eliminate the credits within 60 days, a move that took many by surprise.
• “None of [the Republican lawmakers] want to cross President Trump in a GOP that at this point is more of a personality cult than a real political party,” said Jason Walsh, executive director of the BlueGreen Alliance, a coalition of labor and environmental groups. “But we had hoped that members like Mr. Fitzpatrick would use their negotiating leverage and positions on key committees to protect these investments during the process of writing the bill.”
• Walsh was particularly irked by the absence of Fitzpatrick during a failed committee vote to keep the clean energy tax credits.
• “It’s not clear why he didn’t vote on that amendment, and it’s honestly puzzling,” said Walsh. “I think the question constituents should be asking is why their representative in the U.S. House says all the right things about these job-creating, pollution-reducing investments, but when the rubber hits the road, he’s missing in action on the committee that writes the bill, and he ultimately votes for a bill that screws over workers in his district, and trashes our air and water and climate.”
• The Solar Energy Industries Association estimates the solar and manufacturing tax credits, which are part of the Inflation Reduction Act, helped spur about $5.4 billion in private investments in Pennsylvania alone.
• Kyle Wallace, vice president of public policy at PosiGen, a residential solar installer based in New Orleans with operations in Pennsylvania, said the demise of the solar tax credits would upend growth in manufacturing […]
• Wallace said he too met with Fitzpatrick’s staff and came away hopeful, but is now disappointed the end result is worse than what the committee itself had drafted.

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