By David Lawder
RALEIGH, North Carolina (Reuters) – U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen warned on Thursday that efforts to roll back the Biden administration’s clean energy tax credits would raise costs for families and jeopardize new investment in U.S. manufacturing that creates jobs.
Yellen told the audience at Wake Tech Community College in North Carolina that families across the country had applied for $8.4 billion in energy tax credits that could help them lower their energy bills over the long term.
Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump has promised to repeal many of President Joe Biden’s clean energy regulations for power plants and electric vehicles. Trump has also said he would end hundreds of billions of dollars in tax breaks enshrined in the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022, ending the “green new scam” and redirecting funds to building roads and bridges.
Without naming Trump, Yellen said eliminating the IRA’s clean energy tax credits would be “a historic mistake.”
“If we roll back prices, it could increase costs for working families, and it is critical that we continue to take action to lower prices,” Yellen said in an excerpt from his speech.
“It could jeopardize the significant investments in manufacturing that we’re seeing here and across the country, along with the jobs that come with them. Many of those jobs don’t require a college degree.”
She also said a rollback could “give a leg up 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 leading up to the Nov. 5 presidential election show that Democratic nominee Kamala Harris has gained ground and is now virtually tied with Trump in North Carolina. This gives Democrats a chance to take the state, which Trump narrowly won in 2020 when he lost to Biden.
Yellen’s remarks emphasized the consumer savings from IRA tax credits, in line with Harris’ economic proposals aimed at curbing the rising cost of living for Americans, which Harris also unveiled in Raleigh. Yellen’s previous remarks have emphasized the economic growth and job benefits of such investments.
Yellen said the US is still in the midst of a historic recovery, with US growth at 3% in the second quarter, falling inflation and unemployment still at historic lows.
“But our government knows that prices for important household expenses like health care, housing and energy are still too high. Lowering the cost of these basic necessities is our government’s top economic priority,” she said.
Yellen said Treasury Department data shows that 90,000 North Carolina families 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.
On the campus of Wake Tech, which trains workers for the electric vehicle and efficient building technology industries, Yellen took a spin in a Mustang Mach E. The electric car no longer qualifies for a $7,500 U.S. tax deduction under the IRA because of the Chinese component in its battery.
(Reporting by David Lawder; Editing by Stephen Coates and Andrea Ricci)
