The Senate Just Put Clean Energy for AI in the Crosshairs

After more than a day of continuous debate, the US Senate passed its version of the budget megabill Tuesday afternoon--with potentially disastrous implications for the future of renewable energy in the country. The bill ends credits for projects placed in service--a term meaning, essentially, that a project is ready to provide power to the grid--after 2027, putting hundreds of planned projects around the country in jeopardy. "This is a bill to punish renewables," says Costa Samaras, a professor of civil and environmental engineering at Carnegie Mellon University. "There is a real need to add clean energy supply to the grid--electrifying our cars, electrifying our homes, electrifying our buildings, electrifying our factories, and the demands from AI are all going to require new clean energy. What this bill does is make it harder and more expensive."