The policy framework aims to speed up clean energy development as demand rises from AI, EVs, and onshoring.
A group of centrist House Democrats warned on July 9 that rising power demand and recent policy changes could threaten grid reliability and drive up costs unless Congress acts to modernize the country’s energy system.
The New Democrat Coalition released a framework on July 9, laying out steps to expand clean energy, strengthen transmission infrastructure, and speed up federal permitting.
The announcement follows the passage of the Republican-backed budget bill that repeals key clean energy tax credits enacted under the Inflation Reduction Act. Signed by President Donald Trump on July 4, the megabill will end or phase out credits for home solar, batteries, heat pumps, electric vehicles, and large-scale wind and solar projects.
Rep. Scott Peters (D-Calif.), who leads the Coalition’s Environment, Climate, and Clean Energy Working Group, said the country faces “a massive increase” in demand and needs to respond urgently.
“For the first time in decades, America faces a massive increase in energy demand, due to AI data centers, onshoring manufacturing, and the electrification of our economy,” Peters said in a statement.
“We need affordable power, good-paying jobs, and reliable service—abundant clean energy is the answer.”
Peters said the GOP megabill incentivizes “outdated and expensive fossil fuels like coal,” and that taking “cheap and easily deployable clean energy offline” increases the chance of blackouts along with higher energy bills.
The White House stated in a July 7 executive order that the rollback is the policy of the United States to “rapidly eliminate the market distortions and costs imposed on taxpayers by so-called ‘green’ energy subsidies.”
The order stated that wind and solar energy are “expensive and unreliable,” displace affordable dispatchable power, and create dependencies on “supply chains controlled by foreign adversaries.” It directed federal agencies to strictly enforce the repeal of solar and wind tax credits, limit safe harbor provisions for construction timelines, and review Interior Department policies for any preferential treatment of renewable energy sources.
By Chase Smith
