Controlling Your Electricity Bill

For a wind or solar energy project to be successful, there must be a buyer for the power it will produce. Generally, this electricity is purchased by utilities, manufacturers, universities, municipalities, or companies that demand large amounts of energy.

These large-scale customers buy wind and solar power because:

• Unlike coal, gas, and other fuels, the cost of wind and solar energy doesn't change. The fuel (wind and sunlight) is free.
• Once a project is built, the cost of producing energy remains constant, so power purchase contracts “lock in“ a predictable, steady rate for 20 to 30 years.

Clean Energy Is Price Competitive

The cost of electricity from wind and solar has dropped substantially since 2009 and they are now the cheapest sources of new electricity generation across the United States. With costs significantly below those of coal and nuclear generation, wind and solar energy are also price-competitive with natural gas, even when paired with battery storage. By adding more wind and solar energy to their systems, utilities can help ensure that the consumer costs of energy remain stable, since they are not affected by fluctuating fuel prices.

The Market for Clean Power is Strong

Because they are low-cost and quick-to-deploy sources of energy, wind and solar have dominated new U.S. power installations. In 2025, renewable energy represented nearly 88% of all new electrical generating capacity added to the American power grid, with over 30 gigawatts of new generation coming online. Together, wind and solar generated 19% of the nation's electricity in 2025, enough to power over 70 million American homes.¹

Energy Incentives

Tax incentives to encourage domestic energy production are nothing new. Some oil industry tax incentives are over 100 years old. Incentives played a major role in developing technologies that reduced natural gas prices and commercialized shale-oil production. Others have supported coal-intensive projects.

Historically, wind and solar projects have been eligible for either the investment tax credit (ITC) or the production tax credit (PTC). Unlike a grant or direct subsidy, these tax credits reduce income tax obligations for wind or solar project owners based on the amount of energy produced or the overall capital cost of the project. These savings allow a project to charge lower rates for its energy. Thus, like all other energy incentives, they help save money for consumers. These incentives are being phased out for wind and solar projects starting construction after 2027, but even without the incentive, wind and solar energy remain price competitive. The PTC remains available to many other sources of energy, including nuclear, geothermal, and hydroelectric power through 2033.

In recent years new incentives have been offered to the coal industry, which has generally lost ground to cheaper sources of energy like natural gas and renewables. These subsidies include new federal tax credits for coal production, reduced royalty rates for coal extracted from public lands, and direct subsidies to coal companies via federal grants.