By David Lawder
RALEIGH, North Carolina (Reuters) – U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen warned on Thursday that any attempt to roll back the Biden administration’s clean energy tax credits would raise costs for households and require new investments in U.S. manufacturing that provide jobs would endanger.
Yellen told an audience at Wake Tech Community College in North Carolina that families across the country had claimed $8.4 billion in energy tax credits that would help them lower their energy bills in the long term.
Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump has pledged to repeal many of President Joe Biden’s clean energy rules for power plants and electric vehicles. Trump has also said he will end the hundreds of billions of dollars in tax subsidies enshrined in the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) of 2022. He says he will end the “green new scam” and that he will funds will be diverted to the construction of roads and bridges.
Without naming Trump, Yellen said eliminating the IRA’s clean energy tax credits “would be a historic mistake.”
“Rolling it back could raise costs for working families at a time when it is imperative that we continue to take action to lower prices,” Yellen said in excerpts.
“It could jeopardize the significant manufacturing investments we see here and across the country, along with the jobs that come with them, many of which do not require a college degree.”
She also said a rollback “could give an edge to China,” which is investing heavily in clean energy industries. The Biden administration is expected to soon announce its final implementation plans for sharply increased tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles, batteries, solar cells and other goods to protect the development of a domestic clean energy supply chain.
Recent polls ahead of the November 5 presidential election show that Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic nominee, has gained ground and is now virtually tied with Trump in North Carolina, giving Democrats a chance to win a state that Trump holds 2020 narrowly won, to turn around. his defeat by Biden.
Yellen’s comments highlighted consumer savings from IRA tax credits, in line with Harris’ economic proposals aimed at combating the rising cost of living for Americans, which Harris also unveiled in Raleigh. Previous comments from Yellen have emphasized the benefits of such investments for economic growth and employment.
Yellen said there is still a historic recovery in the US, with US growth of 3% in the second quarter, inflation falling and unemployment still near historic lows.
“But our government knows that prices for key household expenses such as healthcare, housing and energy are still too high. Reducing the costs of these essentials is our government’s top economic priority,” she said.
Yellen said Treasury Department data show that 90,000 families in North Carolina have claimed more than $100 million in clean energy tax credits for installations such as solar panels and energy storage batteries, with an average claim of $5,000. North Carolina families claimed $60 million in energy efficiency tax credits for heat pumps, efficient air conditioning and insulation for an average of $880.
At the Wake Tech campus, which trains workers for the electric vehicle and efficient construction technologies sectors, Yellen took a ride in a Mustang Mach E, an electric car that no longer qualifies for a $7,500 tax credit under the IRA due to the Chinese content in his battery.
