Kiggans talks about clean energy investments in April in Virginia Beach, Va. Photo: Stephen M. Katz / The Virginian-Pilot / Tribune News Service via Getty Images
A swing-district Republican is pressing the Trump administration to allow wind and solar to access IRA tax credits and protect offshore wind projects.
Why it matters: Rep. Jen Kiggans is part of a growing chorus of GOP lawmakers who are speaking out against their party's widening attacks on renewable energy projects.
- Sen. Chuck Grassley this week put holds on three Treasury nominees to protest any move by the agency to restrict wind and solar projects from claiming the credit over the next year.
What she's saying: Kiggans — a U.S. Navy veteran whose southeast Virginia district is home to an offshore wind farm under construction — equated energy with national security.
- Kiggans sought to protect the IRA energy credits from total repeal in the GOP reconciliation bill through letters and phone calls until the very end.
- Though deficit hawks overran the moderates, Kiggans said she's "content" with where things landed, mostly thanks to the Senate's softening of the House's cuts.
- "It really should have been an easier issue," Kiggans told Axios in a phone interview from her Virginia district. "It got a little frustrating that we saw some of the restraints being placed."
"We want to make sure that these guys have a runway," she said. If a developer's project is in the works, it should have "fair amount of time to commence construction, just like [the law] says, to take advantage of the tax credits."
- The Dominion Energy project in Kiggans' district is about 60% complete and includes grid upgrades for a nearby Navy base.
- "To impede that project in any way at this point is not in the best interest of national security and of our local economy," she said. "That's why I've been protective of that."
Yes, but: The battle is far from over, as the administration has clamped down on wind and solar projects since the reconciliation bill became law July 4.
- Treasury is expected to release guidance Aug. 18 detailing how it may change "commence construction" timelines — part of Trump's eleventh-hour deal with House Freedom Caucus members to win their support for the reconciliation bill last month.
- Kiggans said her staff has been communicating with the Treasury Department and that the "ball is in their court."
Between the lines: Offshore wind has been among the biggest punching bags for the Trump White House as it seeks to promote fossil fuels, nuclear and geothermal.
- Trump blocked further offshore wind development on day one, and the Interior Department withdrew offshore wind energy leasing areas just last week.
My thought bubble: Soaring power demand from AI data centers and military bases could thaw opposition to offshore wind, particularly as prices begin to rise and create political headaches in places like Virginia.
- CRES Forum, the conservative energy group, has also been talking up offshore wind's economic benefits with Hill Republicans after the election, part of a larger attempt by the group to dispel anti-wind narratives.
- Offshore wind could gain in Senate bipartisan permitting talks. Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse is pressing for an offshore wind bill with significant leverage: At least seven Democrats would be needed to pass any permitting legislation.
