Looking at the energy projects under development across the Beehive State, I don’t see a distant policy debate. I see economic opportunity in motion.
From Clearfield to Tooele, from Emery County to Utah County, our state is experiencing a surge in private investment in advanced energy manufacturing and infrastructure. But while these projects are creating jobs, strengthening our power grid and generating local tax revenue, they are under threat.
Across Utah, private investment in advanced energy manufacturing and infrastructure is growing. But this progress is now at risk as federal lawmakers consider rolling back the very policies that helped make it possible.
That would be a costly mistake not just for Utah but also for the entire country.
As a Republican, I believe in energy abundance and market-driven solutions. I also believe in an all-of-the-above approach to energy. In practice, that means supporting every viable domestic resource including oil, natural gas, nuclear, hydro, geothermal, wind and solar. If we want to keep prices down, meet growing demand and achieve energy independence, we need every tool available.
Unfortunately, the Senate’s budget reconciliation bill moves us in the opposite direction. It would phase out tax credits for some advanced energy technologies years earlier than for others. That selective treatment places these technologies at a disadvantage just as the United States faces rising demand and an urgent need to expand generation capacity.
This approach is not a true all-of-the-above energy policy. It picks winners and losers. And it risks undermining President Donald Trump’s core objectives of achieving energy dominance, creating American jobs and lowering costs for working families.
Here in Utah, we are proving what a smart, balanced energy strategy can deliver. Between 2007 and 2023, advanced energy projects brought in $4.1 billion in private investment. Local landowners received $6.3 million in lease payments. Counties and municipalities gained $24.6 million in new tax revenue. These dollars fund roads, schools and essential public services. Many of them flow to rural areas that once relied on coal and now need new sources of prosperity.
In Utah County, which accounted for more than one-third of the state’s population growth last year, this revenue is critical. Our growth is rapid, and we need energy infrastructure that can keep up. Projects like solar and battery storage can be permitted and constructed much faster than traditional fossil plants. That agility matters when we are working to meet the needs of fast-growing communities and major employers like data centers that require reliable, low-cost and clean electricity.
I would be just fine building a gas-fired power plant. But the reality is that many advanced energy projects can be deployed faster and are already providing value to our residents. Rolling back the policies that enable these investments would slow our progress and send the wrong message to the communities and companies leading the way forward.
This debate is not about ideology. It is about results. Sen. John Curtis has offered a clear-eyed and common-sense path forward. He’s warned that pulling the rug out from under these enterprises would harm Utah’s economy, jeopardize our energy future and weaken national security.
Now is not the time to undermine industries that are creating good-paying jobs and making our grid more resilient. The advanced energy tax credits have helped launch a manufacturing and infrastructure renaissance in states like Utah, Texas and Tennessee. These are not coastal experiments. These are red-state success stories. In fact, the majority of clean energy investments since 2022 have landed in Republican-led states.
That is not because we favor one kind of energy over another. It is because our spirit of innovation and our commitment to practical solutions make us ideal leaders in the energy transition.
These credits are not giveaways. They are performance-based incentives that reward private investment in American infrastructure. That is exactly the kind of pro-growth, pro-market policy conservatives should rally behind.
Weakening or repealing these credits would hurt the very communities that are delivering on America’s energy goals. It would delay billions in planned investments and threaten the reliability and affordability of our power supply at a time when electricity demand is expected to increase by as much as 50 percent by 2040.
Utah is getting this right. We are attracting investment, building quickly, creating jobs and preparing for a strong energy future. But we need Congress to uphold a level playing field and stay committed to energy abundance.
I urge Utah’s congressional delegation and their colleagues across the aisle to protect the policies that are working. The energy decisions made today will shape our economy, our communities and our national security for generations.