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U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright says cuts to wind, solar tax credits came at 'right time' • Iowa Capital Dispatch [1]
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Date: 2025-08-14
AMES — U.S. Secretary of Energy Chris Wright said Thursday during a visit to Ames National Laboratory that he supports the development and research of clean energy sources — but also said he believes the ending of some federal supports for industries like solar and wind energy has come at the right time.
Several parts of the budget reconciliation law signed by President Donald Trump change clean energy programs created through the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act, the flagship legislation of former President Joe Biden. The “big, beautiful” law takes funding out of some of these programs, in addition to ending or phasing out clean energy tax credits, shortening the qualification window for wind and solar projects and terminating rebates this year for purchase of electric vehicles and energy efficient home upgrades.
Nearly 60% of Iowa’s net electricity generation comes from wind energy, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. Advocates for clean energy say Iowa, which has a higher share of wind energy production than other states and hosts a growing solar energy industry, could see higher costs and the loss of new projects, jobs and manufacturing facilities as these federal incentives end.
But Wright told reporters he supported the move to end these incentives, saying the industry has grown enough to be able to compete without the government financial support.
” I think it’s the right time to sunset them,” Wright said. “… In an early energy producing industry, the government provides subsidies or incentives or whatever to do it. But they’ve been around for 33 years, and I think you’ve seen a mature industry develop. So like with any energy source, it’s got to achieve maturity and compete in the marketplace.”
Wright was joined by members of Iowa’s federal delegation, Sen. Joni Ernst and Reps. Mariannette Miller-Meeks and Ashley Hinson, as well as other members of the conservative climate caucus in the U.S. House, Reps. Bob Latta of Ohio and Bruce Westerman of Arkansas.
Ernst said discussions are ongoing with the Trump administration and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on wind projects in Iowa “to make sure that they do qualify for those tax credits.”
“It doesn’t mean our wind energy is going away. It just means that those tax credits will be phased out,” Ernst said. “So I can anticipate that states like Iowa, we will continue to see a great pull of electricity coming from those wind turbines, the solar projects that are there, but we will see less subsidies coming from the federal government.”
Wright also spoke in support of other components of the budget reconciliation law, saying the measure included some changes to permitting that “took some shackles off” on building new energy production infrastructure, as well as for natural resource extraction within the country.
The Ames National Laboratory, located on the Iowa State University campus, is one of the 17 national laboratories throughout the country that focus on research related to energy production, national security and environmental impact. The Ames lab focuses on issues related to materials science and minerals — areas of research Wright said are vital, as the nation needs to become less dependent on countries like China.
Currently, he said, the U.S. is over-reliant on foreign countries for certain chemicals and minerals that are needed in many energy, technology and medical fields.
Miller-Meeks said bringing the mining of minerals back to the U.S. — as well as setting up more processing and manufacturing industries for these natural resources in the U.S. — would be more environmentally conscious overall, as there are “better labor practices, better environmental practices” in the U.S. than in other countries.
There are also methods being developed at facilities like the Ames National Laboratory to remine rare earth elements and other materials through recycled electronic waste, Miller-Meeks said.
Wright said while there were cuts made through the budget reconciliation law and other efforts by the Trump administration and Republicans in Congress to cut costs, he said he does not expect cuts to the National Laboratory system.
“Of course, when I got there, the original idea was, ‘Let’s cut everything, let’s shrink everything,'” Wright said. “We need to shrink our spending of the government. But the smallest — and potentially no cuts — will be to the broader national laboratory complex. These are investments in our future. They’re much smaller dollars than giant corporate subsidies, and they have huge payoffs.”
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