Governors of California and Indiana, a Democrat and a Republican, and a bipartisan group of 22 U.S. Senators are urging Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo to reject a solar-component tariff petition they say already has impacted completion of solar energy projects across the country that are needed to meet clean power deployment targets.

在太阳能争端是administratio问题n’s March 28 decision to investigate a complaint by U.S.-based solar panel manufacturer Auxin Solar that retroactive tariffs are needed for crystalline silicon photovoltaic (CSPV) cells used in projects that are assembled in Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam and Cambodia using parts and components from China. The countries are the source of more than 80% of U.S. solar imports. Tariffs against components from China have been in effect in 2012.

The firm claims the component-delivery arrangement circumvents the tariff.

In theirMay 1 letterto President Joe Biden, the Senate group urged Biden "to carefully consider the significant policy ramifications and reject the petitioner's request for retroactivity." They voiced concern that added utility costs would be passed to ratepayers. At press time, solar industry advocacy group sources said that some House members also were believed to be preparing similar statements of concern.

In a letter to Raimondo sent April 27, California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) said the petition already has upended the state’s energy transition by delaying at least 4,350 MW of solar energy and storage projects needed in the next two years. Also, in an April 28 letter, Indiana Gov. Eric Holcomb (R)urged a decision soonto bring "clarity and certainty" to the market, noting the state has 4,900 MW of solar energy projects in development.

Solar developers in California report $7.9 billion in utility-scale projects are at risk there—and $52 billion in jeopardy nationwide—in what they project could be a 46% drop in installations this year and next if retroactive tariffs are implemented.

The Newsom letter cites estimates from energy research firm Wood McKenzie that solar deployment will fall by 16.6 GW annually "if the current situation persists and tariffs are ultimately imposed," including the possible loss of more than 100,000 U.S. jobs.

“Delays and interruptions of this magnitude hinder our efforts to combat climate change and threaten our ability to maintain energy reliability ahead of the retirement of 6,000 MW primarily generated by aging gas-powered plants,” Newsom said, adding that the state cannot abide any new uncertainties and the potential loss or delay of solar power capacity, plus storage projects, caused by the inquiry.

Commerce was not set to make a preliminary decision on the Auxin Solar petition until August, with a final ruling on tariffs that could take a number of months longer.

“My hands are very tied here,” said Raimondo at a Capitol Hill hearing on April 27. “I’m required by statute to investigate a claim that companies operating in other countries are trying to circumvent the duties.”

Serious Impacts

Indiana utility Northern Indiana Public Service Co. said on May 4 that it will delay for two years—until 2025—retiring its largest coal-fired power plant due to the tariff probe, which is creating new uncertainty for solar and storage projects planned for this year and 2023 as an energy replacement source.

But the firm, which operates in northwest Indiana, said its exit from coal by 2028 and carbon reduction goals, won't change.

Newsom told the Los Angeles Times on April 28 that the possibility of stiff tariffs on solar modules and the effect on state power supplies “is serious,” and that the state would be remiss if it did not consider keeping open the Diablo Canyon nuclear plant in southern California, which operating utility PG&E had planned to decommission in 2024 and 2025.

The governor had begun considering a life extension for the state's largest power source after rolling blackouts in 2020 that were caused by high temperatures after sundown when solar farms stopped producing power.

Newsom said the state would seek a share of $6 billion in federal funds earmarked in the federal infrastructure law that are intended to prolong the use of rescue nuclear reactors facing closure, money the administrationannouncedin April. Diablo Canyon generated 6% of state power last year. The state must apply for the federal funding by May 19.

十年前,美国发现倾销和subsidized imports of photovoltaic cells and modules from China caused material injury to the U.S. solar panel manufacturing industry, which today still cannot support the growing domestic development sector in manufacturing capacity and supply chain support, say industry advocates.

CSPV细胞”,而是公平定价d modules for export to the United States, Chinese producers continued their assault on domestic producers—this time from third-country export platforms,” Auxin said in its petition to the Commerce Dept. filed in February

Newsom said he recognizes the need to have U.S. tariffs implemented effectively while also increasing the domestic manufacturing of clean energy.

Solar Deployments 'Frozen'

The threat of tariffs has effectively “frozen” solar deployment around the country, said George Hershman, CEO of SOLV Energy, a company formed last year by the spinoff of Swinerton Construction’s renewables unit and sector O&M firm SOLV Inc.

“The tariffs would affect more than 80% of solar imports and there are not enough domestically produced panels to meet the demand of SOLV Energy alone, never mind the U.S. market,” he said.

The Solar Energy Industry Association said in an updated survey of 700 member firms released April 21 that utility-scale solar developers are reporting massive disruptions due to the Commerce Dept. probe, and many do not know when they might be able to get modules.

About 42% of the known utility-scale solar pipeline is disrupted, the association said, including 318 projects representing 50,800 MW of solar and 5,800 MW of battery storage. But that is “only a fraction of likely impacts,” it added, expecting forecasted installations to be cut nearly in half this year and next if tariffs are applied. The group estimates the duty on solar components from the four countries could range from 50% to 250%.

About 83% of survey respondents representing smaller projects reported that delayed or cancelled module supplies have placed at least half their workforce at risk, with 200 companies claiming similar risk to their entire workforces. Some 80% of domestic manufacturers also expect “severe or devastating” effects from the investigation, costing 18,000 solar manufacturing jobs, SEIA said.

“This case is destroying clean energy and needlessly taking down American businesses and workers in its wake,” Group President and CEO Abigail Ross Hopper said in a statement.

SOLV Energy's Hershman, also an SEIA board member, supports “robust tax credits” to scale up the U.S. manufacturing industry. “Without investments in solar manufacturing and legislative action from Congress, the industry will only be able to deploy less than half of the solar needed to reach President Biden’s 2035 clean-energy goals,” he said.

"We stand with this bipartisan group of Senators strongly urging the administration to make an expedited preliminary determination that rejects the petitioner’s request,” said Gregory Wetstone, president and CEO of the American Council on Renewable Energy.