Opinion: When the ‘One Big Beautiful Bill’ passed, federal support for clean energy halted
December 8, 2025
This is an opinion piece. We value the diverse opinions of our readers and we welcome robust, wide-ranging thoughts and ideas on subjects relevant to Mendocino County. The following opinion is not representative of The Mendocino Voice, its publisher, editor or staff. Opinion pieces can be sent to info@mendovoice.com.
As a person leading a clean energy company in Fort Bragg, I was heartened by the results of November’s elections—and dismayed by the surging costs of energy for residents and businesses. I could see that surge coming the moment Congress, as part of the One Big Beautiful Bill, cut federal support for renewable energy across a wide swathe of initiatives. When the bill passed and was signed into law on July 4, the outcome was inevitable — without government support, new renewable energy capacity stalled, and costs were bound to climb.
When the federal government wields a heavy hand to stifle innovation and block new energy development, the consequences are no surprise: higher costs, stalled projects, lost jobs and rising electricity bills for households across the country.
Voters had enough
The skyrocketing cost of energy led voters in New Jersey and Virginia to send an unequivocal message that they were fed up and wanted the bill-supporting GOP leadership out. In the Georgia Public Service Commission races, which were literally single issue races on utility bills, the candidates who embraced clean energy decisively ousted the Republican incumbents. Soaring utility bills across the energy sector, and especially for small businesses, seniors and families, tell a hard truth — our country is facing a Washington-made energy crisis.
Much of the recent commentary on the gubernatorial races in New Jersey and Virginia has overlooked the critical broader realities about the nation’s energy landscape. The U.S. energy grid is widely considered fragile and increasingly at risk of blackouts due to a combination of aging infrastructure, rapidly increasing demand, more frequent extreme weather events and challenges integrating new energy sources. The American Society of Civil Engineers gave the U.S. energy infrastructure a D+ grade in 2025. Renewable energy is the fastest and most cost-effective way to start transforming that assessment.
Since Donald Trump took office, gas and electric utilities have raised or sought to increase bills by at least $89.9 billion. Americans in 49 states are already facing rising utility costs this year. These rate hikes are being driven, in part, by the insatiable electricity demand from AI data centers, forcing utilities to expand capacity while passing the costs on to consumers. The broader impact has been substantial — between November 2024 and October 2025, over 158,000 clean energy jobs were either eliminated or put on hold.
Energy costs are now outpacing overall inflation, with electricity prices jumping 11 percent since January and utility bills rising more than twice as fast as general consumer prices. One in six families has fallen behind on utility payments, and by March 2025, unpaid consumer energy debt exceeded $24 billion.
Meanwhile, clean energy companies across the nation are pausing new projects and reducing staff due to what many view as a federal policy environment increasingly hostile to solar, wind and other renewable energy sources, whether utility, commercial, community or consumer. This pause directly undermines progress toward affordable and sustainable power from households to the national grid.
In Mendocino County, the consequences of current national energy policy are already playing out on the ground. Local officials have advanced solar and microgrid projects, from a county-funded installation at the Administration Center to new small-scale solar farms, but many efforts remain stalled or underbuilt due to the same federal pullback in renewable support. Households facing some of Northern California’s highest energy burdens increasingly see these local projects as essential relief, not optional upgrades. Community and tribal resilience initiatives are stepping in where national policy is failing, underscoring again how urgently voters want affordable, clean power supported and restored.
As a business leader who cares about the future of this country, I hope politicians heed the election results as a warning sign that people are taking notice of these misguided energy policies out of Washington, D.C. and of the painful impact that they are having not only on households, but across energy sectors and on our`national energy security.
Jan Rippingale is the CEO of Blu Banyan, a solar software and financing company, and lives in Fort Bragg.
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