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The Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA) proposed ten facets of a strong solar industry under a Trump administration.
The Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA) released a policy agenda report, outlining priorities for the industry under a Trump administration and the 119th Congress.
The plan focuses on strengthening solar power and energy storage in the United States as part of a broader goal of achieving energy independence and security. Environmental and climate-change-related reasons for supporting solar power were omitted from the list of priorities.
The U.S. solar industry grew 128% during President Trumps first term, reaching 100 GW of total installed capacity, enough to power more than 17 million homes, SEIA said.
“Solar energy is critical to meeting America’s growing need for electricity and providing power for manufacturing, data centers, cryptocurrency, and AI,” said SEIA President and CEO Abigail Ross Hopper. “This is a roadmap for the Trump administration and Congress to capitalize on strong federal solar and storage policies and achieve their vision of a dominant American energy sector.”
1. Support American energy dominance
The United States is currently the second country in the world in solar energy deployment and the third in solar manufacturing. SEIA said the path to American energy dominance needs an “all of the above” strategy that includes strong solar and battery storage industries.
2. Eliminate dependence on China
Offshoring of the U.S. solar industry supply chain is already underway. Continuing to grow solar, steel and electronics manufacturing in the United States would decrease dependence on China, SEIA said.
3. Increase in American manufacturing
SEIA reports that the solar and storage industry has already built more than 100 new factories in 43 states, creating 40,000 new jobs.
"Strong policies to support manufacturing and domestic demand will boost our manufacturing fleet, create more jobs and bring billions of dollars in new investment," SEIA said.
4. Meeting the demand for data centers, AI and cryptocurrency
After relatively flat demand growth for decades, the U.S. power grid is facing rapidly increasing electricity needs to fuel innovations in artificial intelligence and cryptocurrency mining.
5. Reduce bureaucracy in the energy sector
SEIA highlighted the fact that in some US regions it can take seven years or more to connect to the grid. The trade organization called this “unacceptable” and encouraged the adoption of common-sense policies that facilitate the incorporation of new energies into the grid.
6. Regulatory reform
“Regulatory overreach does not discriminate,” SEIA said. “We must eliminate wasteful and burdensome efforts to restrict infrastructure investments on federal lands, stifle competition, and impose undue EPA rules and regulations on used solar panels.”
7. Keep taxes low
SEIA said bipartisan tax policies have encouraged investment in solar energy for two decades.
“Solar energy is popular, employs more than a quarter of a million Americans, and is critical to energy security and dominance. Keep taxes where they are so the solar and storage industry continues to support jobs, factories, and local economies,” SEIA said.
8. Support energy freedom
Rooftop solar and home batteries represent consumer choice and freedom from monopolized electricity markets.
“If consumers want to go solar, the government should not stand in the way,” SEIA said.
9. More jobs in the heart of the US
Solar projects and manufacturing plants create jobs. Currently, the top states for solar energy are California (No. 1), Texas (No. 2), Florida (No. 3), North Carolina (No. 4), Arizona (No. 5), Nevada (No. 6) and Georgia (No. 7).
“We owe it to these workers and communities to keep their economies strong,” SEIA said.
10. Private property rights
Lawmakers across the United States have enacted policies that prevent private landowners from leasing their land for solar development.
"The trampling of property rights must end and Washington must send a signal that it is competition, not regulators, that sets the rules of the game," SEIA said. |
