Opinion: Wisconsin can’t afford to lose clean energy jobs to Washington politics

Trump’s “One Big Beautiful Bill” will raise energy costs and roll back environmental protections.

Wisconsin is at a crossroads. Right now, more than 80 clean energy projects are underway across our state, creating good-paying jobs, helping family farms, lowering energy bills, and positioning Wisconsin communities—from Milwaukee’s Menomonee Valley to rural solar farms—to thrive in a 21st-century economy.

But a bill moving through Congress could upend that progress overnight.

The so-called “One Big Beautiful Bill Act”—a misleading attempt to dismantle the Inflation Reduction Act—has already passed the House and is awaiting action in the U.S. Senate. It’s pushed by fossil fuel interests and would take away the very tools Wisconsin families, workers, and small businesses rely on to lower energy costs and stay competitive.

This isn’t just politics in DC, it’s kitchen-table economics here at home.

Thanks to the Inflation Reduction Act, local schools and townships have been installing solar arrays and clean heating systems that save taxpayers money. Family farms are tapping new funding for conservation and renewable energy. Wisconsin manufacturers are expanding to build EV parts, batteries, and wind turbine components, bringing back well-paying jobs our communities need.

If Congress guts these programs now, the consequences would hit Wisconsinites fast and hard. We’ll see:

• Higher bills: Experts warn Wisconsin households could pay up to $400 more a year for electricity if clean energy incentives disappear. With AI and big data centers driving up demand, costs could spike by 70% in five years.
• Lost jobs: Over 71,000 Wisconsinites already work in clean energy, which is more than all the state’s fossil fuel jobs combined. We stand to gain tens of thousands more if we keep investing in this sector.
• Less reliability: A new analysis from Lazard shows utility-scale solar is still the cheapest and fastest source of electricity for U.S. grids — far more affordable than building new natural gas plants. Slamming the brakes now would weaken our energy independence just when we need it most.

This bill would also roll back pollution standards, letting big polluters cut corners while local communities pay the price in poorer air and water quality. And Wisconsin farmers, who signed up in good faith for clean energy and conservation contracts, would be left in the lurch if those funds suddenly vanished.

We can’t afford to lose what we’ve gained. Wisconsin has the workers, supply chains, and can-do attitude to be a leader in America’s clean energy transition, but only if Congress lets us finish what we started.

The Senate still has time to get this right. Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle should reject this shortsighted bill and stand with Wisconsin families, farmers, and workers and not special interests looking to profit at our expense.

Clean energy is about good jobs, lower bills, and healthier communities. It’s not a partisan issue—it’s about protecting our pocketbooks and the future we want for our kids and grandkids.

Related: Everything Wisconsin needs to know about Trump’s cuts to Medicaid and BadgerCare