Trump slams wind, solar; Pritzker predicts ‘big bill’ increases energy
costs
[July 09, 2025]
By Greg Bishop | The Center Square
(The Center Square) – Provisions of the "one big beautiful bill
President Donald Trump enacted will impact the energy industry.
The bill scales back tax incentives for certain types of energy like
wind and solar. Before the bill’s enactment, Gov. J.B. Pritzker warned
that will lead to clean energy job losses and will mean higher consumer
costs.
“We’re not going to be able to meet the needs of industry and we’re
going to see higher prices for consumers. We already see higher prices,”
Pritzker said.
Pritzker blamed that partially on grid managers.
“And their inability to bring on all of the projects that have actually
already been built but need to be plugged in, interconnected into our
grid and they’ve fallen way behind,” Pritzker said July 1 in Peoria.
In May, PJM said costs are going up because existing energy supply is
being pushed off of the system before replacement resources are in
operation.
“Supply is decreasing due primarily to state and federal decarbonization
policies and some economics,” PJM said. “In order to shift blame for
these price spikes, PJM is being accused of an unwillingness or
inability to connect new renewable resources to the grid.”
Tuesday, President Donald Trump said wind is too expensive.
“The other one is the solar, those big solar fields. They’re taking our
farm land. Our farmers are like mortified by it. They hate it. It’s very
inefficient,” Trump said.
Trump said wind and solar are too expensive and rely too heavily on
taxpayer subsidies. The law he enacted focuses more on natural gas and
clean coal energy production.
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Separately, Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker and President Donald Trump -
BlueRoomStream, WhiteHouse | YouTube
“But we don’t want wind and we don’t want solar because they are a
blight on our country and they hurt our country very badly and smart
countries don’t use it,” Trump said during a cabinet meeting.
America’s Power, a partnership of industries producing electricity
from coal, said the Trump administration has been working to reverse
what they called "dangerous policies” that are forcing coal plants
to retire prematurely.
“The Department of Energy’s report is a stark reminder of the
urgency of these challenges, and we look forward to continuing to
work with the administration in addressing them,” the group said.
Monday, the U.S. Department of Energy released a reliability report
saying retirements of “firm” electricity generation increases risk
of power outages 100 times in 2030.
“Modeling shows annual outage hours could increase from single
digits today to more than 800 hours per year,” the DOE said. “Such a
surge would leave millions of households and businesses vulnerable.
We must renew a focus on firm generation and continue to reverse
radical green ideology in order to address this risk.”
Jim Talamonti contributed to this report |
