Why energy tax credits are crucial for U.S. power

Transcript

Hi, I'm Rich Powell from the Clean Energy Buyers Association. Our members are large energy buyers from medium sized businesses, universities and governments to high tech manufacturing, aerospace and defense and large retail companies. Our members buy a lot of electricity, so we're focused on making sure it's reliable and affordable. Today, we're at an incredibly exciting economic time in the US. We're bringing manufacturing back, building the future of AI. Infrastructure and electrifying more and more of our industry. That growth is good, but electricity demand is also growing. Just between now and 2029, electricity demand is expected to grow by about 16%. At the same time, without tax incentives, more than 160 gigawatts of new capacity won't be built by 2029, which adds to the shortage of electricity. So where are we going to find it? the US has enormous natural gas. Resources around the country. Gas supply is not our problem, but only three companies in the world make the great big turbines to turn that supply into electricity. There aren't enough turbines to meet the demand, which means natural gas won't fully fill the gap. Nuclear is coming back with a few gigawatts, but again, not fast enough to fill that gap. Base load and flexible renewable energy resources that's geothermal and hydropower have so much potential. And they'll also help with a few gigawatts by 2030. The largest opportunity? More than 2600 gigawatts of solar and wind projects queued up to connect to grids around the country. Last year, more than 50 gigawatts of solar energy alone, many with batteries, came online. The hitch? We need technology neutral tax credits. That's 45 why and 48 E to build that generation affordably. They'll help us decarbonize the grid and save consumers money. In a recent study, SIBA and NERA Economic Consulting discovered that if those credits are removed, it'll cost more than $40 billion a year in US electricity prices. And the average US ratepayer will see their power bills go up more than $110 a year. The North American Electric Reliability Corporation says our grid is more and more stressed every year, and without building new capacity, there are greater risks of blackouts. Not good for Americans, not good for business, not good for national security. Lastly, many of our companies building our nation's AI systems are locked in incredible competition with Chinese companies. China is building power five times as fast as we are. We have to win the race and more importantly, we have to keep the lights on. We need the investment and production tax credits to energize our future.