How are energy investors positioned?
Investing.com - U.S. renewable energy stocks edged lower in premarket U.S. trading on Tuesday after President Donald Trump issued an executive order aiming to strengthen rules repealing or limiting tax credits for solar and wind energy projects.
Enphase Energy (NASDAQ:ENPH) shares dropped by nearly 1.8% prior to the opening bell on Wall Street, while SolarEdge Technologies (NASDAQ:SEDG) fell by 3.5%.
Trump argued that renewable energy resources were expensive and unreliable, while displacing more "dispatchable" energy sources. He added that many of these developments were threatening national security by being heavily reliant by foreign supply chains and also possibly harmful to the natural environment and electric grid.
In the order, the Treasury Department was instructed to enforce the phasing out of tax credits for solar and wind projects that was included in the massive fiscal policy bill Trump signed into law last week.
The Interior Department was also ordered to review and alter any policies that favor renewable resources or other energy sources.
Both agencies were also told to submit a report of their changes within 45 days.
"President Trump is committed to unleashing American energy and preventing American taxpayers from funding expensive and unreliable energy policies," the executive order said.
The tax-cuts and spending package, which was passed by Congressional Republicans after weeks of internal wrangling, would gradually slash tax incentives for renewable projects that begin construction after 2026. Previously, developers would have been able to claim a tax credit of 30% through 2032.
Nonpartisan analysts have suggested that the sprawling bill, which also extends Trump’s 2017 tax reductions, unveils new tax cuts, and increases spending on defense and border security, would add more than $3 trillion to the country’s $36.2 trillion debt pile. The White House has disputed the claim.
(Reuters contributed reporting.)