The Countdown On Clean Energy (Big Beautiful Bill Editorial Series: Part 2)

This is the second installment in the editorial series centered around the changes to our tax code due to the passing of the Big Beautiful Bill.While there were some great additions to take advantage of; there’s a political agenda that I feel undermines the progress that has already been made. The progression we made with not only renewable energy, but energy efficiency is being rolled back. These advancements have been proven to help lower costs or cut costs all together for many Americans (mainly homeowners). How long will the ban on upgrading energy efficiency last? The Countdown on Clean Energy is on.

For the past few years, American homeowners and businesses have been in what the traditional media has called a "green gold rush," fueled by the most significant clean energy incentives in U.S. history. The 2022 Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) made solar panels, electric vehicles, and high-efficiency heat pumps financially viable for millions.

Then, on July 4, 2025, the "One, Big, Beautiful Bill Act" (OBBBA) was signed into law. It was not in favor of clean energy policies; it was a dirty bomb on clean energy. They literally pumped the brakes on electric vehicle incentives; along with other clean energy initiatives.

The OBBBA's primary function was to pull the plug on clean energy incentives, and it has fundamentally changed the financial math for clean energy in America, for individuals and businesses alike. The era of generous subsidies is over, and the deadlines are either past or right around the corner.

How the Bill Affects Your Personal Electric Bill

A critical distinction must be made: The OBBBA did not directly change the price you pay for electricity. Instead, it eliminated or shortened the tax credits that made the technology to reduce your electric bill affordable. This is something that is not a shock, but leaves a lot of political agenda questions (that I will search for answers on).

Here is a breakdown of the specific figures and expirations for the technology that were here to reduce or eliminate energy cost:

1. Rooftop Solar Panels

The Original Incentive: The Residential Clean Energy Credit (Section 25D) provided a 30% tax credit for the total cost of installing solar panels and battery storage. On a typical $25,000 system, this was a $7,500 reduction in your federal tax liability.

The OBBBA Change: This 30% credit was originally scheduled to last until 2032. The new law terminates it.

Impact on Your Bill: The 30% credit itself never appeared on your monthly electric bill. Its purpose was to dramatically shorten the "payback period" of your investment. By removing that $7,500 discount, the OBBBA has effectively lengthened the time it will take for your solar panels to pay for themselves through monthly savings.

Expiration Date: December 31, 2025. To qualify, your solar project must be "in progress" by this date, which is now less than two months away.

2. Electric Vehicles (EVs)

The Original Incentive: The Clean Vehicle Credit (Section 30D) provided up to a $7,500 tax credit for a new EV and $4,000 for a used one.

The OBBBA Change: The new law terminated this credit for all new vehicle purchase agreements.

Impact on Your Bill: This deadline has already passed. The OBBBA did not change the cost of electricity to charge your vehicle; it simply removed the $7,500 federal discount on the car's sticker price. The monthly savings of charging with electricity versus buying gasoline remain, but the upfront cost of entry just got significantly higher.

Expiration Date: September 30, 2025. (This deadline has passed.)

3. Home Improvements (Chargers, Heat Pumps, etc.)

EV Chargers: The 30% credit (up to $1,000) for installing a home EV charger (Section 30C) will expire. The installation must be completed before June 30, 2026.

Energy Efficient Home Improvements: The popular 25C credit, which offered up to $2,000 for heat pumps or $1,200 for windows and insulation, is also being terminated. The expiration date for these improvements is December 31, 2025.

How the Bill Affects Business & Commercial Energy

The OBBBA's most dramatic impact is on the business and utility-scale sector. The 2022 IRA created a 30% base Investment Tax Credit (ITC) or Production Tax Credit (PTC) for large-scale solar, wind, and battery projects. This sparked a massive boom in corporate and utility renewable development from 2023 to 2025.

The new law ends this brief stint of innovation and efficiency for not just older properties, but properties that were recently built as well.

The OBBBA Change: The original 2032/2033 phase-out is gone. To qualify for the 30% credits, the OBBBA now mandates that projects must either be completed by the end of 2027 or, more critically, begin construction by mid-2026.

Impact on Business Bills: This has created a frantic dash to break ground. For a business owner who wanted to install solar on their factory roof, their 30% discount window now also closes on December 31, 2025. The OBBBA has effectively killed the long-term financial planning of the renewable sector, replacing it with a short-term sprint to beat the clock.

For more context and actual dollar and cents comparisons. Here are the specific figures and numbers for how each of these lowers a homeowner's electric bill:

1. Energy Generation: Solar Panels & Battery Storage

Solar panels have the most direct and dramatic impact on an electric bill, as they allow you to generate your own electricity, drastically reducing the amount you need to buy from the utility.

Average National Savings: Homeowners with solar panels save an average of $1,500 per year on their electricity bills.

Typical Monthly Savings: This breaks down to a reduction of $100 to $200 per month for a typical home.

Median Annual Savings (U.S. Treasury): A 2024 analysis from the U.S. Department of the Treasury found that the median household that adopted residential solar saw an annual electricity bill saving of $2,230.

Lifetime Savings: Over the 25-year warrantied lifespan of a solar panel system, a homeowner can save anywhere from $30,000 to over $100,000, depending on their location and local electricity rates.

How Battery Storage Adds to Savings

Adding a battery (like a Tesla Powerwall or similar) allows you to save more money by avoiding "peak" electricity rates.

Peak Rate Avoidance: You can store the free solar energy you generate during the day and use it during the evening (e.g., 4 PM to 9 PM) when many utilities charge their highest prices.

Reported Bill Reduction: By avoiding these expensive peak rates, households with a combined solar and battery system report saving an additional 30% to 50% on their utility bills compared to homes with just solar panels.

2. Energy Reduction: Heat Pumps & Insulation

These technologies lower your bill by drastically reducing the demand for electricity in the first place. The largest portion of a home's energy bill is typically heating and cooling.

Electric Heat Pumps

Heat pumps don't create heat; they move it. This makes them 3 to 4 times more efficient than traditional electric furnaces or baseboard heaters.

Average National Savings: A typical U.S. household can save an average of $370 per year by switching to a heat pump (Rewiring America).

Savings vs. Electric Resistance (Baseboard/Furnace): This is where the savings are most significant.

Homeowners can save $300 to $1,200 per year (U.S. Treasury).

A National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) study found median savings of $300 to $650 per year.

A study in Texas found average savings of $310 per year when replacing an electric furnace.

In a real-world example, a Reddit user with a 2,600 sq. ft. home noted their winter bills dropped from the $300-$400 range to about $150 after installing a heat pump.

Savings vs. Fossil Fuels: For homes replacing inefficient heating oil or propane, the U.S. Treasury reports annual savings can be as high as $1,000 to $3,100 per year.

Home Insulation & Air Sealing

Properly insulating your home is a foundational step that makes all other clean energy technology more effective.

Average Total Energy Bill Savings: The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) estimates that homeowners can save an average of 11% on their total energy costs by air sealing their homes and adding insulation.

Heating & Cooling Savings: The savings on heating and cooling costs alone are even higher, at an average of 15%.

Combined Impact: The Department of Energy states that by combining proper insulation and air sealing with equipment upgrades (like a heat pump), you can cut your home's heating and cooling energy use by 20% to 50%.

Specific Dollar Example: In a Florida case study, upgrading attic insulation with standard fiberglass batts was shown to save $300 to $500 per year, while using spray foam insulation saved $800 to $1,200 per year.

The Final Countdown

The "One, Big, Beautiful Bill Act" repealed all new clean energy advancements. It was a repeal of innovation for US Homeowners or future homeowners to take advantage of. These incentives not only to give homeowners a tax advantage, but it gave the new Clean Energy industry a path for success. I am a fan of forward progression, and to me I don’t see how this helps the citizens of this country. This was legislation that created to line old energy industries pockets while pressing the detonator on clean energy. Will the Clean Energy Initiatives rebuild from this? Only time will tell…

Its specific impact on your electric bill is $0. Its impact on your ability to lower your electric bill is catastrophic. By terminating the 30% solar credit and $7,500 EV credit, this law has slammed the door on the most powerful financial incentives ever offered to help Americans and their businesses electrify.

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The Podcast entitled Wealth Builders will be giving in depth analysis on personal and business finance. Our next episode will focus on the repeal on Clean Energy and what that means for you. Check out the next episode on YouTube for

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What’s In it for us? (Big Beautiful Bill Editorial Series: Part 1)

What’s In It For US?

This is the first of several editorials I am releasing to prepare individuals, families, and businesses for what a lot of experts are calling, “The New World Economy”. The transition into our new economic structure has been marked by a series of significant increases in day-to-day expenses, creating a challenging environment for all of us. From the fundamental cost of food, which directly impacts every household, to the fluctuating and often rising price of gas, the financial pressures are felt across various sectors of the economy and among individuals. These increases are not isolated incidents but rather reflective of broader economic shifts, including inflationary pressures, supply chain disruptions, and evolving market demands. Consumers are finding their budgets stretched thin, creating a need for adjustments in spending habits and a reevaluation of financial priorities. This period of economic adjustment requires resilience and adaptability from individuals as we navigate these evolving financial realities. 

The leader of the Free World (President Trump) has touted this as a “Golden Age”, or a time of economic prosperity for the United States of America. But, the shift has wreaked havoc on the pockets of US Citizens up to this point. Leaving the American public thinking, “What’s in it for us?”

How the "Big Beautiful Bill" Will Affect Individuals and Families

The "One, Big, Beautiful Bill" (OBBB) was signed into law in July 2025. This bill largely makes permanent the individual tax cuts from the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) that were set to expire. It also introduces several new, targeted tax changes. For most individuals and families, this means a continuation of lower income tax rates and a simpler filing process, but it also brings some notable changes to deductions, credits, and expenses. Let’s break down the advantages and disadvantages to this Big Beautiful Bill. 

Tax Advantages and Opportunities

The bill provides several benefits that individuals and families can take advantage of when filing their taxes:

• Lower Income Tax Rates and Higher Standard Deduction: The bill permanently extends the lower individual income tax rates (ranging from 10% to 37%) that were in effect under the TCJA. It also makes the higher standard deduction permanent and increases it further. For 2025, the standard deduction is $15,750 for single filers and $31,500 for married couples filing jointly. For 2026, it rises to $16,100 for singles and $32,200 for joint filers. This simplifies tax filing for the nearly 90% of taxpayers who now claim the standard deduction instead of itemizing. In exchange for the higher standard deduction, the bill permanently repeals personal exemptions. The extinction of the exemption does not surprise me, because it was simply an over complication to tax filing, while lowering tax rates and raising standard deductions is more universal to all tax payers. 

• Enhanced Child Tax Credit (CTC): A key benefit for families is the enhancement of the Child Tax Credit. The bill increases the credit from $2,000 to $2,200 per child, makes this higher amount permanent, and indexes it to inflation for future years. The maximum refundable portion of the credit for 2025 is $1,700. This increase will help families during this transition.

• New Deductions for Workers and Seniors:

• Tips and Overtime: From 2025 through 2028, the bill introduces temporary deductions for tip and overtime income. Workers can deduct up to $25,000 in qualified tip income and up to $12,500 for qualified overtime pay. These deductions phase out for single filers earning over $150,000 and joint filers earning over $300,000. This is major for the working class Americans, and I for one would like to see this become permanent within the tax code.

• Seniors: Taxpayers aged 65 and older can claim a new temporary deduction of $6,000 per individual ($12,000 for a qualifying married couple) from 2025 through 2028. This is in addition to the existing extra standard deduction for age and is available to both itemizers and non-itemizers, though it phases out for those with higher incomes. This deduction for seniors comes at a crucial time for seniors. I do not want this to coincide with what is happening with Medicare and Medicaid. This is a deduction that is needed for our seniors with the increased prices that is not reflected in their Social Security benefits.

• Increased State and Local Tax (SALT) Deduction: For taxpayers who itemize, the cap on the deduction for state and local taxes is temporarily increased from $10,000 to $40,000 for tax years 2025 through 2029. However, this benefit is aimed at middle and upper-middle-income families; the deduction begins to phase out for taxpayers with a modified adjusted gross income (MAGI) over $500,000 and reverts to the $10,000 cap for those with MAGI above $600,000. The cap will return to $10,000 for all taxpayers in 2030.

• Support for Family Savings and Education:

• Newborn Accounts: The bill establishes new tax-deferred investment accounts, sometimes called "Trump Accounts" or "MAGA Accounts," for children born in the U.S. between 2025 and 2028. These accounts will be seeded with a $1,000 government contribution, and families can contribute up to an additional $5,000 per year. The Trump Account should make for a good savings vehicle for families, and shows the direction our government looks to move towards in this “Golden Age”. I look forward to following up on the way this affects families for years to come.

• 529 Plans: The definition of qualified expenses for 529 savings plans is expanded to include costs for vocational, trade, and technical schools, as well as workforce training programs. This is a Savings Plan Account that is being retooled to help out with the future workforce of America. A Good step in the right direction. 

• Adoption Credit: The adoption tax credit is enhanced by making it partially refundable, allowing parents to claim up to $5,000 in refundable credits. Another good forward thinking decision by the government that symbolizes putting family first.

• Higher Estate Tax Exemption: For high-net-worth families, the bill permanently increases the federal estate and gift tax exemption to $15 million per person ($30 million for a married couple), indexed for inflation. This increase in tax exemption for estate tax shows that the powers that be are emphasizing legacy for families.

Potential Increased Expenses and Negative Financial Impacts

While the bill offers many tax advantages, some families may face new or higher costs:

• Elimination of the Electric Vehicle (EV) Credit: A significant expense increase for some will be the elimination of several clean energy credits from the Inflation Reduction Act. Most notably, the $7,500 consumer tax credit for new electric vehicles is eliminated for any vehicle purchased after September 30, 2025. This will make the purchase of a new EV more expensive for consumers who would have qualified for the credit.

• Changes to Medicaid and SNAP: The bill introduces new work requirements for able-bodied adults without dependents to qualify for Medicaid and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). While proponents state these changes are intended to reduce fraud and encourage work, critics warn that the new reporting requirements could cause some eligible individuals and families to lose access to crucial health care and food assistance benefits. Once the smoke clears from all the excess and fraud the right wing claims is in the system, we should be in a better place, hopefully. Stay Tuned! 

• New Tax on Remittances: The bill imposes a new 1% tax on certain international money transfers (remittances) when the sender uses cash, a money order, or a similar physical instrument. This creates a new cost for individuals sending money to family abroad through these methods. This to some seems to be cruel and usual punishment. To crypto enthusiasts such as myself this seems to be a step towards the advancement of crypto.

• Permanent Loss of Certain Deductions: The bill makes permanent the TCJA's elimination of miscellaneous itemized deductions. This means expenses such as unreimbursed employee business expenses, tax preparation fees, and union dues remain non-deductible. These deductions all seem to have little impact on an individual’s bottom line (unless you are a jet setter for your company, if so why isn’t the company fitting the bill?). Nevertheless, this is something that needs to be repealed in my eyes.

A brief introduction of myself, my name is Roy D. Browning. I have been in the Finance industry for the past 2 decades. For the past 7 years I have been working for the people through the service of tax filing and consulting. Throughout that time I have created strategies to increase tax refunds or reduce tax liabilities. I am passionate about the finance of things and remain dedicated to the prosperity of the people. This marks the first of many editorials for the people of this great nation.

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The Podcast entitled Wealth Builders will be giving in depth analysis on personal and business finance. We start with an in-depth analysis of this periodical to prepare everyone for what’s to come this tax season. 

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