Trump Tax Law Ends 35 Years Of Federal Support For Wind And Solar On The Fourth Of July, Resolving Long-Standing Concern That The Cheapest New Electricity In America Was Still Getting Built

WASHINGTON. The federal tax credits that helped finance American wind and solar projects for roughly three and a half decades expired at the stroke of midnight on the Fourth of July, the administration confirmed Saturday, resolving a long-standing concern that the cheapest new sources of electricity in the country were continuing to get built.

Under a provision of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which the President signed one year earlier to the day, the clean-electricity credits terminate for any wind or solar facility that had not begun construction by July 4, 2026. Projects that failed to break ground by Saturday will now be free to compete in the marketplace on the novel basis of costing more, an arrangement the administration has described as leveling the playing field.

"For thirty-five years the federal government put its thumb on the scale for these intermittent sources," said one official within the administration, noting that wind and solar had grown to supply only the overwhelming majority of all new generating capacity added to the American grid. The official added that the nation would now be free to meet surging demand from data centers and air conditioners with power that emits carbon, costs more, and takes longer to build.

The President has long regarded wind power with particular disfavor, a position aides trace to a decade-long fight against an offshore wind farm within view of his golf resort in Scotland. Relieved at last of federal encouragement, the domestic solar and wind industries are expected to shed tens of thousands of jobs, cancel announced factories, and cede manufacturing leadership to China, a country the same administration has separately identified as the nation's foremost strategic rival.

Energy analysts observed that the cutoff arrives as the country enters another record-breaking summer, with grid operators warning of shortfalls at the exact moment the fastest and cheapest new supply is pulled from the pipeline. The administration characterized the timing as coincidental and the warnings as pessimistic.

At press time, the President was celebrating American energy independence by presiding over the elimination of federal support for the one domestic power source that requires no fuel, no imports, and no one's permission to catch the wind.