Repealing Tech-Neutral Tax Credits Will Raise Energy Costs for Farmers, Harming Reliability and Affordability in Rural America

This RMI briefing argues that repealing tech-neutral clean electricity tax credits, specifically the Investment Tax Credit (ITC) (48E) and Production Tax Credit (PTC) (45Y), would increase energy costs for farmers and rural electric cooperatives, undermine grid reliability, and derail planned clean energy investments in rural America.

• The repeal of tech-neutral clean electricity tax credits would lead to higher annual electricity costs for agricultural operations. RMI analysis using CEBA data suggests a mid-sized dairy farm could experience a $10,000 increase in annual electricity costs in 2026 if these credits are removed.
• For rural electric cooperatives, the loss of these tax credits would significantly increase the cost of clean energy portfolios. In the case of Wisconsin’s Dairyland Power Cooperative, the cost of planned wind, solar, and storage projects would more than double, resulting in an annual cost increase of $137 million and higher rates for member-owners.
• The Investment Tax Credit (ITC) is critical for farmers to afford on-farm solar installations, which can reduce electricity bills by up to 70 percent. Without the ITC, the high up-front installation costs make these projects unaffordable for farmers operating on thin margins.
• Rural electric cooperatives, which serve 42 million people across 48 states and provide power to 92 percent of persistent poverty counties, rely on these credits to manage a rural energy burden that is 33 percent higher than the rest of the United States.
• Abruptly ending or repealing these credits undermines the long-term planning required for complex clean energy and grid infrastructure projects. Such a policy shift would likely lead to the cancellation of projects before groundbreaking and damage investor confidence and policy predictability.

APA

RMI (2025). Repealing Tech-Neutral Tax Credits Will Raise Energy Costs for Farmers, Harming Reliability and Affordability in Rural America. https://rmi.org/resources/energy-tax-credits-agricultural-impact/

Chicago

RMI. Repealing Tech-Neutral Tax Credits Will Raise Energy Costs for Farmers, Harming Reliability and Affordability in Rural America. 2025. https://rmi.org/resources/energy-tax-credits-agricultural-impact/.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=RMI |title=Repealing Tech-Neutral Tax Credits Will Raise Energy Costs for Farmers, Harming Reliability and Affordability in Rural America |date=18 June 2025 |url=https://rmi.org/resources/energy-tax-credits-agricultural-impact/ |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{rmi2025repealing, author = {{RMI}}, title = {{Repealing Tech-Neutral Tax Credits Will Raise Energy Costs for Farmers, Harming Reliability and Affordability in Rural America}}, institution = {RMI}, year = {2025}, month = jun, url = {https://rmi.org/resources/energy-tax-credits-agricultural-impact/}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }