Environmental activists say this is a step backwards, but oil and gas experts say it is needed.
SAN ANTONIO — In July, President Donald Trump signed an executive order directing the Treasury Department to eliminate some clean energy incentives. That could affect the bills of homeowners across Texas.
One of the industries that will take a hit from the Big Beautiful Bill is solar. Starting January 1st, 2026, the 30 percent residential solar tax credit will no longer exist. The oil and gas industry will also be affected as legislation to reduce methane is relaxed.
“Methane is a powerful climate pollutant. It’s also the main ingredient of natural gas. And the law requires that the largest emitters pay a fee on their excessive methane emissions. So, what the law did, the tax law, was delay that fee for industry for ten years,” Elizabeth Lieberknecht, manager of the Regulatory and Legislative, Midcontinent division of the Environmental Defense Fund, said.
Jay Young, an oil and gas expert with the King Operating Corporation added, “There’s not one company that doesn’t watch everything that they do in regards to pollution or putting methane or natural gas. So we do the best we can to drill a well produced oil and gas, put it down the pipeline and get paid for it.”
The Trump administration argues that wind and solar won’t be able to meet the rising demand for energy, which is why they’re reversing legislation from the Biden administration, and shifting away from clean energy and more towards fossil fuels.
“The clean tax credits or the tax credits and incentives for the clean energy that are putting Texans to work, and clean energy jobs and investing in new facilities to generate clean power and transmitted to the grid, those programs are being gutted while we are facing increasing demands on our electricity,” said Lieberknecht.
Young said the need for these fossil fuels isn’t going away anytime soon.
“We have an addiction to oil, and there’s nothing that’s going to replace it anytime soon,” Young said. “So we have to produce oil and gas.”
When it comes to the elimination of the solar credit, if you own a home to qualify for the solar tax credit before it goes away, you must have the solar system fully installed by the end of this year.