Clean energy stocks jump after tax on solar and wind projects is removed from Trump's big bill

Clean energy stocks rose on Tuesday after a tax on solar and wind projects was removed from the Senate version of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act.

Shares of NextEra Energy, the largest renewables developer in the U.S., rose about 5% after the Senate narrowly passed President Donald Trump's bill on Tuesday. AES, a leading renewable provider, rose about 2%. The megabill will now go to the House of Representatives, where lawmakers will consider the Senate's changes.

The clean energy industry was surprised and outraged to find over the weekend that a tax on wind and solar projects had been inserted into a version of the Senate legislation. The tax applied to projects that use components from foreign entities of concern above a certain threshold. Foreign entities of concern is widely understood to basically refer to China.

The tax was ultimately struck from the Senate legislation, the American Clean Power Association (ACP) and Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA) told CNBC. The measure was punitive and would have added up to $7 billion to the solar and wind industry's tax burden, said John Hensley, ACP's senior vice president for market analysis.

The Senate bill still phases out the clean electricity investment and production tax credits for wind and solar, though the timeline isn't quite as strict as previous versions of the legislation. These credits have played a crucial role in the expansion of renewable energy in the U.S.

Projects that start construction within 12 months of the bill becoming law can still qualify for full tax credits, according to ACP. Projects that start construction after 12 months have to enter service by the end of 2027 to qualify for the credits, according to ACP.

The Invesco Solar ETF (TAN) over the past three months.

The benchmark Invesco Solar ETF (TAN) gained 2.9%, while the iShares Global Clean Energy ETF (ICLN) rose 0.8% after the legislation passed.

Shares of First Solar, the largest solar panel manufacturer in the U.S., slipped more than 1%. Sun tracker manufacturers Array Technologies and Nextracker jumped more than 12% and 5%, respectively.

Residential solar installer Sunrun more than 10% while inverter manufacturers SolarEdge and Enphase gained about 7% and 3%, respectively.

But SEIA cautioned that the improvements in the Senate bill are limited and the legislation overall is still harmful to renewable energy. ACP described the bill as "a step backward for American energy policy." 

"This legislation undermines the very foundation of America's manufacturing comeback and global energy leadership," Abigail Ross Hopper, the CEO of SEIA, said in a statement. "If this bill becomes law, families will face higher electric bills, factories will shut down, Americans will lose their jobs, and our electric grid will grow weaker."