Drive around rural Minnesota and you might spot a solar farm. Complexities are being sorted out for bigger projects and in the meantime, farmers are adding solar arrays to fit their needs.

Clean energy advocates said solar is one of the many sources Minnesota needs to rely upon to meet its climate goals. The push continues to develop more utility-scale projects but opening up needed space on the power grid remains a challenge.

Larry Lahr, a central Minnesota farmer and landowner, has a handful of one-megawatt solar installations lined up next to each other. He leases a section of his land to a third party, which sells the electricity generated.

"Getting into an arrangement like that, [you] see the benefits in terms of having a revenue stream that was certainly significant," Lahr pointed out. "It diversified the rest of our farm income."

He noted it likely will make it easier to transition the property to future generations of his family. Larh added the power goes through a local substation, eliminating the need for new grid space.

Advocates acknowledged there's still conflict, including claims these projects gobble up prime farmland. However, the Clean Grid Alliance said the current amount of solar in the queue represents less than 1% of Minnesota's 17 million acres of soil-rich farmland.

Lahr acknowledged when people think of solar farms, they might picture endless rows of panels dominating the landscape. He countered the project on his property blends in with the surroundings.

"In this case, the site is tucked up against some woods," Lahr emphasized. "It's not a large-scale project like I think a lot of people feared when they were first expressing their opposition to our project."

Advocates said local opposition should not deter landowners from considering large projects if they have visions of bigger profits. Other solar supporters said if a farm added panels, it still can be a dual-use site with room for crops and livestock. Some Minnesota counties have pursued restrictions for such projects and Lahr admitted it will take more time to convince skeptics about the benefits.

Groups representing workers in the renewable power sector are slamming the possible repeal of clean-energy tax credits in the "One Big Beautiful Bill Act" currently before the U.S. Senate.

The bill would repeal tax credits for solar and electric cars, part of President Joe Biden's Inflation Reduction Act.

Bob Keefe, executive director of E2, a national organization of business leaders who advocate for smart clean-energy policies, said the bill could crush the clean-energy economy and not just in blue states such as California.

"If we ever wanted a policy in this country that would kill jobs, reduce business investments and make us less competitive, while also reducing our electricity supplies in this country, we've got it," Keefe contended.

In the past three years, companies have announced more than $130 billion in clean energy projects. Trump campaigned against the tax credits and wants to put the savings toward an extension of his 2017 tax cuts. A new report from E2 showed since Trump took office in January, companies have canceled more than $15 billion worth of projects.

Keefe pointed out California has the most clean energy jobs in the country, so it has the most to lose.

"There are more than a half a million Californians who work in clean energy, solar, wind, energy efficiency, electric vehicles," Keefe reported. "When you take away a 30% tax credit for building solar projects, sales are naturally going to decrease, projects are going to get canceled and jobs are going to be impacted."

Data show more than 75,000 Californians work in the electric vehicle industry. The bill eliminates the $7,500 EV tax credit which makes EVs more affordable. If the bill passes it would have to be reconciled with the House version and reapproved before it reaches the President.

Federal tax credits for electric vehicles are helping drive clean transportation in the Lehigh Valley, but advocates warn they're at risk of being cut by the budget reconciliation bill being heard in Congress.

Supporters say the credits lower emissions, grow the economy, and save Pennsylvanians money.

Sarah DeGrendel, sustainability manager with the City of Bethlehem, urged Pennsylvania lawmakers to oppose any efforts to eliminate the EV and charging tax credits and vital EV manufacturing investments.

"Bethlehem has committed to reducing our overall transportation emissions by 30% by 2030, with an overall goal reduction of emissions by 33% by 2025 and 60% by 2030," said DeGrendel. "This is a journey to route zero, and it is one we are pursuing with a purpose."

The federal EV tax credit is worth up to $7,500 and is currently available through 2033. In Congress, senators are divided over whether to keep the Biden-era tax credits.

The budget bill passed in the House and is currently under consideration in the Senate.

Tony Bandiero, executive director of the Eastern Pennsylvania Alliance for Clean Transportation, said Pennsylvania has over 139,000 electric vehicles on the road.

He said he believes federal EV tax credits are helping to boost the economy.

"We have seen double digit growth of EV sales year over year in the US," said Bandiero, "which is being driven by federal EV tax credits bolstering manufacturing sectors, and ensuring growing long term job stability for clean energy workers and suppliers."

Andrea Wittchen, president of the Lehigh Valley Sustainability Network, stressed the importance of federal investments in electric vehicles for public health.

She noted that the transportation sector is the largest source of carbon pollution nationally, and the second largest in Pennsylvania.

"In 2024 for the second year in a row," said Wittchen, "the Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America identified Allentown as the number one worst place to live in the United States for people who suffer from asthma and allergies."

Wittchen also pointed out that electric vehicles have zero tailpipe emissions, and they drastically reduce air pollution caused by tailpipe emissions from fossil fuel cars and trucks.

She noted that cleaner air and healthier communities result from zero tailpipe pollution.




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Potential cuts to alternative energy tax incentives could slow alternative energy distribution in the rural parts of Alaska.

Lawmakers in Congress said they are trying to rightsize the federal budget. Alaska's topography and extreme climate make getting electricity to Alaska's rural bush communities extremely challenging.

Chase Christie, development director for the systems installation company Alaska Solar, said four projects created by the Chugach Electric Association took a different approach to getting a lot of power to people in rural areas.

"It's a lot of power but I think even more significantly it is extremely rapidly deployable," Christie explained. "Renewables and solar in particular are the most rapidly deployable ways to get kilowatt-hours into the grid."

The tax breaks in the Biden-era Inflation Reduction Act were critical to making the Chugach projects a reality, and Christie pointed out if the incentives disappear, so could a good amount of investment in rural Alaska's alternative energy distribution sector. The cuts could fall squarely on rural power cooperative and municipal utilities, which service up to 90% of Alaska residents.

The Inflation Reduction Act also helped power co-ops in the Lower 48 states to modernize their power grids and boosted investments in clean energy. Christie stressed the measures will have an economic trickle-down effect, especially in rural Alaska.

"Not just providing energy for the communities," Christie emphasized. "We're providing jobs, revenue, I would say hope for revitalizing some of these communities that have been overlooked by the federal government for decades."

Christie warned such hope could be dashed if the reasons for investment disappear.