Senate proposes return of 5% safe harbor rule for utility-scale solar projects
Nevada Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto, along with Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and Senate Finance Committee Ranking Member Ron Wyden, have introduced a joint resolution to Congress to overturn a recent IRS ruling concerning utility-scale solar projects.
The resolution, known as ‘S.J.RES. 107,’ would reverse the federal government’s August 2025 decision to block utility-scale projects (defined at those over 1.5 MW) from the 5% safe harbor rule of the investment tax credit (ITC). The ruling refers to a “physical work test,” stating that these utility-scale projects must have racks installed on a site prior to July 4, 2026 to be ITC-eligible.
Nevada, Cortez Masto’s home state as well as her Senate jurisdiction area, currently sits in sixth place in the Solar State By State rankings, compiled by the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA). The Silver State Senator is a self-proclaimed “champion” of her state’s push for renewable energy, with her hydroelectricity-focused Help Hoover Dam Act passing through the Senate earlier this year.
Now, Cortez Masto says in a recent statement that the IRS ruling is “nothing but a blatant attempt to disqualify projects needed to build out our nation’s clean energy infrastructure.”
“For years now, wind and solar companies have been planning their investments into our nation’s energy grid, ready to meet our rising demand for energy, create good-paying jobs, and invest in our future,” Cortez Masto says. “The Republican tax law and this last-minute guidance from the Administration will raise energy prices and chill investment, and Congress must step in.”
The Senate trio says the rule change was far too abrupt, and exists solely to further impede renewable energy projects across the U.S.
Shifting energy priorities
In a recent statement, Sen. Schumer outlines that the IRS ruling not only adds to the cost of renewable energy construction in America, but kneecaps its ability to respond to rising electricity demand across the nation, utility-scale solar and otherwise.
“Trump promised he would cut energy costs in half. Instead, he has driven prices even higher by hiking taxes on clean energy projects as a handout to his Big Oil buddies,” says Schumer. “America should be increasing our energy supply and driving down costs, and instead Trump is putting up nonsensical barriers that halt clean energy projects. There is no reason we should be making it harder to build wind and solar projects that will provide low-cost energy and create jobs.”
Oregon Sen. Ron Wyden, the third pillar of support for the new resolution, has been a proponent of American renewable energy for over a decade, serving as chair of the Senate Energy Committee in 2013. He says the joint resolution is a crucial measure to keep the U.S. at least somewhat on pace when it comes to non-fossil fuel energy sources.
“Trump’s return to office has been a disaster for manufacturing jobs and energy prices in America, and the law Republicans passed effectively raising taxes on clean energy projects caused a lot of that pain,” Wyden says. “We’re giving the Republicans an opportunity to undo some of the damage they caused in their budget, save a lot of jobs, and get more energy on the grid to bring down prices. If they oppose it, we’ll be a weaker and poorer country as we fall further behind on clean energy.”
S.J.RES. 107 has been read twice and referred to the Senate’s Committee on Finance as of Feb. 12, 2026.
