A New Yorker in the clean energy business is warning of potential layoffs if Republicans in Congress move ahead with legislation cutting off certain green energy tax credits. 

“If the bill were to pass as written in the House, it would eliminate a significant number of jobs,” Kevin Schulte, CEO of Rochester-based Green Spark Solar, said.

Schulte flew down to Washington, D.C. on Tuesday to lobby Republican Senators to save the tax credits, which would be eliminated or quickly phased out as part of the sweeping bill House Republicans recently passed to enact President Donald Trump’s agenda.

Schulte credits those tax credits, which were enshrined by the Biden-era Inflation Reduction Act, with helping him double the size of his business in recent years. But now, he says, he may be forced to go in the opposite direction: layoffs.

“Now my long-term investment just became a long-shot bet,” Schulte said.

Schulte is not alone. In the solar industry alone, business advocates warn that ending the tax credits would put at risk hundreds of thousands of current and future jobs nationwide. 

That includes more than 8,000 jobs in New York state. 

Sen. Chuck Schumer has blasted the legislation, warning of the potential economic impact of the tax credit provisions.

“The only people celebrating the Republicans’ bill’s energy policies are the fossil fuel industry, because it will be the fossil fuel industry whose pockets are lined,” he said during a floor speech last week.

Some House Republicans — despite voting for the House version of the bill just weeks ago — are also urging Senate counterparts to amend the bill to avoid the rapid phaseout of the credits. 

A group of those Republican lawmakers signed onto a letter calling for the Senate to “substantively and strategically improve clean energy tax credit provisions” in the reconciliation bill. The signers include New York Reps. Mike Lawler, Andrew Garbarino, and Nick LaLota. 

“This is about energy dominance, and we want to make sure that we have an all-of-the-above approach,” Lawler said in an interview. “That includes nuclear, that includes natural gas, that includes renewables.”

Lawler was less-committal on whether this would be a red line for him, much as lifting the cap on the state and local tax (SALT) deduction has been. 

Asked if he would vote for the bill without changes to the tax credit provisions, Lawler said, “I am focused on getting a final bill passed because it is vital, we don’t want to have the largest tax increase in American history.”

The sweeping Republican bill includes an extension of various tax cuts passed during President Trump’s first term.

As the Senate takes up the legislation, climate advocates and clean energy business owners are watching closely. 

Jack Pratt, senior political director at the Environmental Defense Fund, said, “You feel like we’re really on the verge of seeing something really take off, and you just hate to see that the rug is pulled out from underneath these folks.”

So far, there are signs that the Senate GOP could undo some of the tax credit changes approved by the House. 

But of course, this is a balancing act for Republican leaders. If they restore those credits, they risk a backlash from hard right members, endangering passage of the overall bill due to the tight margins on Capitol Hill. The bill initially squeaked through the House by one vote.