Pulling The Plug Clean Energy
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- Pulling The Plug Clean Energy
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- Pulling The Plug Clean Energy
Summary
A report on small businesses in the clean energy economy and the federal programs and tax credits they use, citing sources dated through 2025. The key findings state that 75% of energy efficiency workers are employed by companies with 20 or fewer employees and that repealing federal clean energy tax credits could cost the United States $160 billion in lost GDP. Later sections describe the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund, a $27 billion Inflation Reduction Act investment that includes a $20 billion climate bank and a $7 billion Solar for All grant program, and the Small Business Administration's Green Lender Initiative and 504 loan program. The report states that in February 2025 the Department of Agriculture froze Rural Energy for America Program funding for more than 6,000 approved grants. It also lists clean energy tax credits by section, including 48E, 45Y, 48C, 45X, 25C, 25D and 179D.
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Executive Summary
The Trump administration has launched an all-out assault on clean energy initiatives. This attack shows
not only a reckless disregard for our environment, but puts at risk the small businesses driving innovation
in the clean energy economy as well as 400,000 new jobs.1
This report details how federal investments support clean energy small businesses and how the Trump
administration’s efforts to roll back federal clean energy investments, especially those created and
expanded by the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), will devastate small businesses in the clean energy
economy. It discusses the economic impact of small firms driving innovation in the sector, the federal
programs they depend on, and how the Trump administration is targeting these businesses. The report
also highlights how the “Trump Tariffs” are hurting small businesses in the clean energy sector, and
discusses the consequences that businesses on the ground are already feeling.
Key Findings:
• Since Trump was re-elected, small businesses are feeling the pain. Small businesses account for a
significant portion of clean energy jobs in the United States, with 75% of energy efficiency workers
employed by companies with 20 or fewer employees.2
• In Massachusetts, there are more than 100,000 direct clean energy jobs. More than half of the 7,300
clean energy businesses in the Commonwealth are small firms with 10 or fewer employees; more than
80% have fewer than 50 employees.3
• The Trump administration is undercutting programs critical for small businesses, including freezing
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and United States Department of Agriculture (USDA)
funding, and reinstating caps on Small Business Administration (SBA) 504 Loans which finance
improvements that reduce small business energy costs.
• The April 2025 Trump Tariffs limit deployment of clean energy including solar, driving up costs for
small- and mid-sized installers and making it harder for them to compete.4
• Thousands of rural businesses completed clean energy projects expecting reimbursement through the
Rural Energy for America Program (REAP) program, only to have their funding withheld.
• Firms surveyed in 2024 reported concerns they would lose business or be forced to close as a direct
result of an IRA repeal.5
• Repealing federal clean energy tax credits and funding could threaten or eliminate thousands of jobs
and could cost the U.S. $160 billion in lost GDP.6
If Trump’s attacks continue, America stands to lose thousands of jobs. By attacking clean energy
investments, the Trump administration is undermining the thousands of small businesses that benefit
from clean energy, create jobs, and on which communities rely.
1
The State of Clean Energy Jobs, Climate Power (Apr. 30, 2025), https://climatepower.us/wp-
content/uploads/2025/04/April-2025-Clean-Energy-Jobs-Report.pdf [hereinafter Climate Power].
2
Energy Efficiency Jobs in America 2024, E2 (2024), https://building-performance.org/documents/Energy-
Efficiency-Jobs-in-America-2024.pdf.
3
2023 Massachusetts Clean Energy Industry Report, Massachusetts Clean Energy Center (2023),
https://www.masscec.com/sites/default/files/documents/2023-Industry-Report-Final.pdf [hereinafter
Massachusetts Clean Energy Center].
4
Talya Minsberg, A Timeline of Trump’s On-Again, Off-Again Tariffs, N.Y. Times (Mar. 13, 2025),
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/03/13/business/economy/trump-tariff-timeline.html.
5
Businesses on Impact of Arrested IRA Investments, E2 & BW Research Partnership (Oct. 15, 2024),
https://e2.org/reports/survey-business-impact-of-ira-repeal/ [hereinafter E2 & BW Research Partnership].
6
Repealing Federal Energy Tax Credits Would Cost American Jobs and Increase Household Energy Bills, Energy
Innovation (Mar. 20, 2025), https://energyinnovation.org/wp-content/uploads/National-IRA-Rollback-Update-
March-2025_FINAL.pdf [hereinafter Energy Innovation].
2
Overview of Small Businesses in the Clean Energy Economy
National Overview
Clean energy is one of the fastest growing industries in the United States. Nearly 3.5 million Americans
work in clean energy, and the sector is adding jobs three times faster than the overall U.S. workforce.7 In
fact, clean energy employment increased by 149,000 jobs in 2023, accounting for nearly 60% of all new
energy sector jobs.8 Small businesses play an especially outsized role in this sector. There are nearly 2.3
million energy efficiency workers in the United States, and 75% of energy efficiency businesses are small
businesses with 20 or fewer employees.9
Massachusetts Overview
Massachusetts is a national leader in clean energy, with the industry supporting more than 212,775 jobs as
of 2023—an 80% increase since 2010.10 These clean energy jobs represent 2.8% of the state’s workforce
and represent more than $14 billion in total Gross State Product (GSP). The industry is continuing to
grow, and to meet the Commonwealth’s 2030 decarbonization goals, Massachusetts will need 38,000
clean energy jobs; according to estimates, 82% of these could be middle- to high-wage positions.11
Small businesses play a major role in the state’s clean energy economy. There are 7,300 clean energy
businesses in Massachusetts, 58% of which have 10 or fewer employees. Massachusetts also leads the
nation in climate tech startups per capita, with 49 startups per one million residents.12
Economic Impacts of IRA Attacks
The IRA is building a clean energy market that reduces risk, increases investments, and encourages
economic growth. The IRA both expanded the number of potential clean energy customers and unleased
new sources of capital to supercharge the clean energy economy.
Yet, the Trump administration has frozen IRA funding and terminated hundreds of grants that businesses
and communities rely on. These attacks roll back progress and devastate an economy already reeling from
the impacts of the Trump Tariffs.13 In fact, an October 2024 report on clean energy businesses found that
more than half of firms surveyed said they would lose business if the IRA was repealed, 21% said they
would be forced to lay off workers, and 27% said they would lose projects or contracts.14
A Climate Power analysis found that since President Trump was re-elected in November, he has
threatened or killed more than 60,000 jobs and canceled or delayed more than $70 billion in new
investments across the country.15 It is also estimated that repealing federal clean energy tax credits and
funding could increase cumulative household energy costs by $32 billion and cost the United States $160
billion in lost GDP.16 In Massachusetts alone, 6,590 jobs and $200,000 in investments have been
threatened or eliminated.17
7
Clean Jobs America 2024, E2 (2024), https://cleanjobsamerica.e2.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/E2-2024-
Clean-Jobs-America-Report_September-17-2024.pdf.
8
2024 U.S. Energy and Employment Jobs Report, U.S. Dept. of Energy (2024), https://www.energy.gov/policy/us-
energy-employment-jobs-report-useer.
9
Energy Efficiency Jobs in America 2024, E2 (2024), https://building-performance.org/documents/Energy-
Efficiency-Jobs-in-America-2024.pdf.
10
Massachusetts Clean Energy Center, supra note 2.
11
Id.
12
The Geography of Climate Tech: Findings from Powerhouse’s Data, Powerhouse (Jun. 28, 2023),
https://www.powerhouse.fund/climate-geography.
13
Megan Cerullo, Trump tariffs raise odds of U.S. recession, Wall Street economists say, CBS News (Apr. 7, 2025),
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/recession-risk-2025-goldman-sachs-jp-morgan-trump-tariffs/.
14
E2 & BW Research Partnership, supra note 4.
15
Climate Power, supra note 1.
16
Energy Innovation, supra note 5.
17
Climate Power, supra note 1.
3
Trump Attacks on Small Businesses
The Climate Bank
The Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund is a $27 billion investment from the IRA that leverages
private capital to maximize clean energy investments and climate resilience projects nationwide.
This includes a $20 billion climate bank to accelerate clean energy investments, particularly in
underserved and climate-impacted communities, by leveraging public funds to attract private
capital. This investment was based on the National Climate Bank Act authored by Senator Ed
Markey, Senator Chris Van Hollen and Congresswoman Debbie Dingell. The Greenhouse Gas
Reduction Fund also includes a $7 billion Solar for All grant program to install and expand solar
projects in low-income communities.
In February 2025, the Trump administration began baselessly attacking the climate bank and
fabricating reasons to shut it down. Since mid-February the funding has been frozen and is the
subject of ongoing federal court litigation. The Trump administration’s attempt to claw back
legally obligated funds from the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund means that thousands of
businesses and communities stand to lose out on investment dollars they were counting on to
lower energy bills for families, create jobs, and strengthen our country’s energy independence.
Once the funding is restored, the climate bank will benefit thousands of Americans and their
communities by lowering energy bills and decreasing the cost of deploying thousands of
community-based climate projects. This funding could help new entrepreneurs launch new
clean energy businesses or help small businesses make sustainable investments such as
purchasing new electric delivery vehicles. The climate bank is projected to leverage $250 billion
in public and private investments while preventing hundreds of millions of metric tons of
carbon emissions over ten years.18
The climate bank will also provide targeted benefits to environmental justice communities. At
least 70% of the funds are slated to go to low-income and disadvantaged communities, 20% to
rural communities, and more than 5% to tribal communities.19 Solar for All is projected to
benefit an additional 900,000 low-income and underserved families.20
Green Lender Initiative
The SBA’s Green Lender Initiative was a 2024 program to increase lending for climate and clean
energy-related projects through the SBA’s business loan programs. The initiative encouraged
lenders to support small businesses’ clean energy investments by leveraging SBA loans with the
$20 billion from the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund secured in the IRA.21 The SBA awarded
four new Small Business Lending Company (SBLC) licenses to add nonbank lenders into the
7(a) program—named for section 7(a) of the Small Business Act of 1953—to focus on
18
Delivering impact from US green bank financing, McKinsey (Apr. 20, 2023),
https://www.mckinsey.com/capabilities/sustainability/our-insights/delivering-impact-from-us-green-bank-
financing.
19
Kristoffer Tigue, White House Awards $20 Billion to Nation’s First ‘Green Bank’ Network, Inside Climate News
(Apr. 4, 2024), https://insideclimatenews.org/news/04042024/biden-administration-green-bank-network-
disadvantaged-communities/.
20
Solar for All, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, https://www.epa.gov/greenhouse-gas-reduction-fund/solar-
all (last visited Apr. 30, 2025).
21
Lauren Zola, Green Lender Initiative Aims to Grow Funding for Small Businesses’ Clean Energy Goals, The Well
News (July 23, 2024), https://www.thewellnews.com/business/green-lender-initiative-aims-to-grow-funding-for-
small-businesses-clean-energy-goals/.
4
underserved communities and climate focused projects. The Community Advantage (CA) SBLC
program was expanded to increase investments in climate-focused projects by allowing larger
CA SBLCs to make loans of up to $2 million specifically for climate projects, pending SBA
approval.22
Trump’s SBA Administrator, Kelly Loeffler, announced the pause of the Green Lender Initiative
in her Day One Priorities Memo, saying that it did not “support America’s return to energy
dominance.”23
Rural Energy for America Program (REAP)
The REAP program can provide guaranteed loan financing and grant funding for agricultural
producers and rural small businesses to install renewable energy systems or make energy
efficiency improvements.24 Since the program’s creation two decades ago, REAP has helped
more than 20,000 farmers, ranchers, and rural small businesses cut their energy bills.25
In 2022, REAP received $2 billion in supplemental appropriations through the IRA.26 In
February 2025, Trump’s USDA froze this funding for more than 6,000 previously approved
grants. Like many federal grant programs, REAP requires grantees to either incur expenses and
use their funding for reimbursement, or submit requests for advances from the USDA.27
These 6,000 grant recipients were guaranteed funding, and had begun work on their projects
expecting reimbursement, only for the Trump administration to pull the rug out from under
them.28
“I’ve lost my trust in the USDA at this point,” said Laura Resnick, a flower farmer approved for a
REAP grant to install solar panels. She was told her funding was being withheld after she had
already spent the money. “Our project is complete, so we can’t change the scope of it.”
The Trump administration’s attack on the REAP program’s IRA funding left more than 6,000
small business owners and farmers high and dry. Without the funding they were guaranteed,
these business owners face continued hardship and may be forced to scale back operations or
even close. Although some recipients are reported to have received their funding, it is unclear if
others will be able to access to their funds.
22
Id.
23
Press Release, SBA Administrator Loeffler Issues Memo on Day One Priorities, U.S. Small Bus. Admin. (Feb. 24,
2025), https://www.sba.gov/article/2025/02/24/sba-administrator-loeffler-issues-memo-day-one-priorities.
24
Rural Energy for America Program Renewable Energy Systems & Energy Efficiency Improvement Guaranteed
Loans & Grants, U.S. Dept. of Ag., https://www.rd.usda.gov/programs-services/energy-programs/rural-energy-
america-program-renewable-energy-systems-energy-efficiency-improvement-guaranteed-loans (last visited May 1,
2025).
25
Press Release, Farming, Environmental Groups Call on Congress to Fund Rural Clean Energy Program,
Environmental Law & Policy Center (Apr. 22, 2022), https://elpc.org/news/farming-environmental-groups-call-on-
congress-to-fund-rural-clean-energy-program/.
26
Anthony F. Pipa & Adam Aley, The Rural Energy for America Program primarily benefits Republican congressional
districts, Brookings (Apr. 24, 2025), https://www.brookings.edu/articles/the-rural-energy-for-america-program-
primarily-benefits-republican-congressional-districts/.
27
Compl. for Decl. & Inj. Relief, Butterbee Farm v. U.S. Dep’t of Ag., No. 1:25-cv-00737 (D.D.C. March 13, 2025).
28
Ames Alexander et al., Farmers in Trump country were counting on clean energy grants. Then the government
moved the goalposts., Floodlight News (Mar. 26, 2025), https://floodlightnews.org/farmers-in-trump-country-
were-counting-on-clean-energy-grants-then-the-government-moved-the-goalposts/.
5
IRA Clean Energy and Efficiency Tax Credits: What’s at Stake
To help pay for tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans, Republicans in Congress are threatening
to eliminate clean energy tax credits that benefit small businesses. The IRA provided tax credits
for businesses and families to deploy clean energy and energy efficiency technologies. Tax
credits that benefit small business include:
• Clean Electricity Investment Tax Credit (48E): A technology-neutral tax credit for
investment in facilities that generate clean electricity.
• Clean Electricity Production Tax Credit (45Y): A technology-neutral tax credit for
production of clean electricity.
• Advanced Energy Project Credit (48C): A $10 billion investment tax credit to build
clean technology manufacturing facilities.
• Advanced Manufacturing Production Credit (45X): A per-unit tax credit for
domestic production of clean energy components, such as solar panels, wind turbines,
and batteries.
• Energy Efficient Home Improvement Credit (25C): A tax credit for installing
energy-efficiency improvements in residential homes, including insulation, efficient
windows and doors, and electric heat pumps that provide efficient heating and cooling.
• Residential Clean Energy Credit (25D): A tax credit for purchasing and installing
residential clean energy equipment, including rooftop solar, geothermal heat pumps, and
batteries.
• Energy Efficient Commercial Buildings Deduction (179D): A tax deduction for
the cost of energy efficiency improvements to commercial buildings, including lighting
systems and heating, cooling, ventilation, and hot water systems. This credit supports
small businesses that are transitioning to energy efficient systems in their commercial
buildings.
From the IRA’s clean energy and energy efficiency tax credits, nearly 100,000 taxpayers in
Massachusetts took home $231 million in 2023.29 Massachusetts residents claimed $149 million
in residential clean energy credits and $82 million in energy efficient home improvement tax
credits for rooftop solar, batteries, home insulation, windows and skylights, central air
conditioners, doors, heat pumps, and heat pump water heaters.
504 Green Loan Program
SBA’s 504 loan program—named for section 504 of the Small Business Investment Act of 1958—
exists to create jobs, spur economic development, and meet energy reduction goals. The
program offers long-term loans of up to $5.5 million, including “Green Loans” for clean energy
and energy efficiency projects. Loans may be used for projects that reduce business energy
consumption by at least 10% or generate more than 15% of renewable energy used.30 504 Green
Loans were capped at a maximum of three loans per borrower totaling no more than $16.5
million. The Biden administration removed this cap in April 2024, and the Trump
administration reinstated it one year later.
29
SOI tax stats - Clean energy tax credit statistics, IRS, https://www.irs.gov/statistics/soi-tax-stats-clean-energy-
tax-credit-statistics (last visited May 1, 2025).
30
SOP 50 10 contains SBA’s loan origination policies and procedures governing the 7(a) and 504 loan programs,
U.S. Small Bus. Admin. (June 1, 2025), https://www.sba.gov/document/sop-50-10-lender-development-company-
loan-programs.
6
Hotels on Cape Cod have used SBA 504 Green Loans to put solar panels on roofs to save on
electricity costs and conserve cashflow, helping them survive the slow winter season.31
SBA Disaster Assistance
Extreme weather is affecting communities and businesses across the country. To provide
support after declared disasters, SBA offers long-term, low-interest, direct loans to homeowners,
renters, small business owners, and certain nonprofits. If eligible, borrowers can receive an
additional 20% on top of their loan to protect their home or business against future damage, for
example, by raising homes in flood-prone areas or installing fire-rated roofs in areas with
frequent wildfires. As the climate crisis worsens and extreme weather events become more
frequent and severe, helping communities recover and build back stronger will be more
important than ever.32
The Trump administration, however, has denied states federal disaster relief, proposed reforms
to make it much harder for communities to qualify for federal disaster aid, and withheld disaster
recovery funding for political purposes.33
This fiscal year, SBA has approved 43,175 disaster loans for a total of $4.4 million to date.34 To
secure disaster loans with a low interest rate, business and homeowners must show they are
unable to secure credit elsewhere. For these borrowers, SBA disaster assistance is the only
option to finance their recovery. By withholding federal disaster recovery funding, the Trump
administration is directly targeting thousands of small business owners and homeowners facing
increasingly severe weather events fueled by the climate crisis.
State Trade Expansion Program (STEP)
The State Trade Expansion Program (STEP) provides grants to small businesses to overcome
challenges in exporting their goods.35 Using STEP funding, small businesses can participate in
foreign trade missions, design international marketing campaigns, pay fees for translation
services, and more.36 Many businesses that have received STEP grants are in the clean energy
sector, including at least 18 in Massachusetts.37
SolarOne Solutions, a STEP recipient and Massachusetts Export Center client, is one example of
a small firm in the clean energy industry that is driving innovation and relies heavily on
exporting its product. Each SolarOne lamp is a self-contained lighting system independent of
31
E-mail from Mary Mansfield, President and CEO of Bay Colony Development Organization, to Michael Massiwer,
Senior Legislative Assistant, Office of Senator Edward J. Markey (Apr. 30, 2025).
32
Adam Smith, 2024: An active year of U.S. billion-dollar weather and climate disasters, National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (Jan. 10. 2025), https://www.climate.gov/news-features/blogs/beyond-data/2024-
active-year-us-billion-dollar-weather-and-climate-disasters.
33
Hanna Kang & Kaitlyn Schallhorn, California wildfire aid will come with strings, President Trump’s aide says, The
Sun (Feb. 21, 2025), https://www.sbsun.com/2025/02/21/california-wildfire-aid-will-come-with-strings-president-
trumps-aide-says/.
34
Disaster Summary Report, U.S. Small Bus. Admin., https://careports.sba.gov/views/DisasterSummary/Report
(last visited May 5, 2025).
35
SBA’s STEP Program, U.S. International Trade Admin., https://www.trade.gov/step-program (last visited May 1,
2025).
36
State Trade Expansion Program (STEP), U.S. Small Bus. Admin., https://www.sba.gov/funding-
programs/grants/state-trade-expansion-program-step (last visited May 1, 2025).
37
E-mail from Jeevan Ramapriya, Executive Director, Mass. Office of International Trade and Investment, to Sujin
Kim, Professional Staff Member, Senate Committee on Small Business (Apr. 11, 2025).
7
electrical grids. The lamps allow communities without developed power grids to bypass the
investment of time and funding in building the infrastructure typically required before services
can reach residents.38
STEP was included on the Trump administration’s January 2025 list of federal programs under
review.39 Even programs like STEP that are not explicitly intended for clean energy businesses
are essential to industry development. Any attacks on these programs put small businesses at
risk.
Conclusion
Small businesses are a driving force behind America’s clean energy economy—creating jobs,
fueling innovation, and strengthening local economies. Small businesses also play a crucial role
in the development of renewable energy and the health and well-being of our environment.
Federal investments, especially through the IRA, are contributing to a clean energy boom,
helping the industry grow three times faster than the overall economy and adding thousands of
new jobs.
Small businesses are the backbone of this growth and leaders of clean energy innovation. But
the Trump administration is denying them the support and capital they need to keep pushing
American innovation forward, by gutting key federal programs including REAP and 504 Green
Loans, and imposing crushing tariffs.
We must fight back, support the small businesses leading clean energy innovation, and secure
our collective climate future.
38
SolarOne Solutions, Inc., Massachusetts Small Business Development Center Network,
https://www.msbdc.org/solarone.html (last visited May 2, 2025).
39
The Upshot Staff, Which Federal Programs Are Under Scrutiny? The Budget Office Named 2,600 of Them., N.Y.
Times (Jan. 28, 2025), https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2025/01/28/upshot/federal-programs-funding-
trump-omb.html.
8
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