Trump tightens clean-energy tax credits, curbs farmland solar/wind

President Donald Trump on Wednesday signaled a broad tightening of the government’s posture toward wind and solar energy, announcing new restrictions on clean-energy tax credits and casting renewed doubt on future renewable projects while also moving to limit federal support for solar and wind on farmland. The actions come as electricity prices have risen in recent years and as demand from data centers and other large users pushes the grid to new levels of stress.

In a Treasury Department action issued after an executive order from the White House, the administration made the eligibility criteria for investment and production tax credits stricter. The change reverses a long-standing benchmark that allowed projects to qualify if construction had begun within a 12-month window, shifting the standard to require ongoing, substantial physical work and a demonstrable start of construction. Officials said the reform is aimed at ensuring credits are directed to projects that are truly under way, but industry observers warned the new rule would complicate financing and could jeopardize hundreds of wind and solar developments already in the pipeline. Large developers indicated they had...