Edison CEO: US utilities want Trump and Republicans to save the inflation act

Pedro Pizarro said that the U.S. Utility Industry wants the incoming Trump Administration and the Republican-led Congress in Congress to maintain clean energy and EV Tax Credits in the Inflation Reduction Act.

The 2022 IRA is a law that contains hundreds of billions in subsidies for clean power and was signed by outgoing president Joe Biden to combat climate changes. Donald Trump, the president-elect and climate skeptic who will be taking office, has pledged to repeal it. This would require Congress' support.

Pizarro, a former board chair of the industry trade group Edison Electric Institute who was recently replaced, said that the members of the lobby group have been making their case to the Trump transition team as well as Republican members of Congress, arguing the benefits of preserving the IRA for both businesses and consumers.

Pizarro said on the sidelines the COP29 Climate Summit in Azerbaijan, "One of our major priorities as an industry will be to articulate benefits of the IRA." "Most (IRA) benefits do not actually accrue to shareholders. He said that they go directly to our builders and our customers. According to reports, Trump's team is working on plans that will eliminate the $7,500 tax credit for consumers who purchase electric vehicles as part of tax reform legislation. On Friday, a group of electric vehicle and battery makers including Rivian and Panasonic, as well as Tesla and Panasonic, also called on Trump to not kill the EV tax credit, citing its impact on states that voted Republican.

Dan Brouillette is the former Energy Secretary of Trump. He stepped down from his position as CEO at EEI just a few days before the U.S. elections. He now works with the transition team to develop energy policy and make cabinet appointments.

Pizarro stated that retaining IRA credits for energy transmission, storage, nuclear power, hydrogen, electric vehicles, and other areas is crucial to the continued growth of EEI member utilities. These include US and foreign investor-owned utilities like AES, Edison International and Duke Energy.

It's true across the board.

He said that EEI will be spending the next months reaching out members of Congress.

He said, "We will be very active in explaining the IRA's benefits." (Reporting and Editing by Louise Heavens, Valerie Volcovici)

(source: Reuters)