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Updated: 1 hour ago

Maine building trade unions urge Congress to protect federal energy tax credits

A person stands at a podium. Screenshot / Courtesy Maine Labor Climate Council Jason Shedlock, president of the Maine State Building and Construction Trades Council, said clean-energy investments have helped created not just jobs, but careers.
By Laurie Schreiber

Representatives of Maine labor unions are urging federal lawmakers to continue their support of federal clean energy tax credits that received long-term extensions in the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022.

The credits have helped develop clean energy projects in Maine and resulted in good-paying jobs, said Francis Eanes, executive director of the Maine Labor Climate Council.

The council joined with the Maine AFL-CIO and Maine Building and Construction Trades Council to host a press conference this week to highlight clean energy job creation in Maine and call on Congress to maintain the credits.

Family-sustaining wages

Over the past two years, clean energy projects in Maine have created jobs with “family-sustaining” wages, contributed to lowering energy costs and strengthened local economies, speakers said.

Continued federal support is essential to protect jobs and continue Maine’s progress in a transition to clean energy production, said Eanes.

A person stands at a podium.
Screenshot / Courtesy Maine Labor Climate Council
Francis Eanes

Today, 145 clean energy projects are planned and ready to break ground in Maine, Eanes said. 

But Eanes said he’s heard from developers who are pausing the start date on projects as they wait to hear whether tax credits will remain available.

“Will the projects happen? Potentially, some might get canceled, some might get delayed,” he said. “But we’ve seen more projects get built over the last couple of years because of these tax credits.”

The Inflation Reduction Act extended two tax credits — the Investment Tax Credit and the Production Tax Credit — at least through 2033, ending what had previously been short-term legislative extensions, according to a December 2024 White House press release. The goal was to give clean energy project developers certainty to undertake major investments to produce more clean power.

Under the act, companies nationwide announced more than $450 billion in new clean energy investments and over 400,000 new clean energy  jobs, the release said.

‘Screeching halt’

But the fate of the credits is part of the federal budget reconciliation process now underway.

The credits have been critical for making sure there are good jobs in the industry, said Eanes.

Job creation with good wages and benefits is key to ensuring Maine workers can stay in Maine, said Scott Cuddy with International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 1253.

“We’ve been building the workforce we’ll need in the future,” said Cuddy. “Maine can’t afford to go back.”

“Mainers across the state have benefited from these important investments, from ironworkers building wind firms in Aroostook County to electricians installing battery plants in Lincoln and Gorham to the many solar fields spread across the state,” said Kilton Webb, a member of International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 567 and a state representative (D-Durham).

“If Washington, D.C., shoots down clean energy tax credits, projects creating jobs will come to a screeching halt,” said Chad Ward, a long-time ironworker and member of Ironworkers Local 7.

Forward or back?

Ward noted that he’s traveled out-of-state through much of his career, missing out on family activities. Continued investment in Maine-based projects would allow younger generations to work closer to home, he said.

“I don’t want my family to move out of state to find better work,” Ward said.

“When we have to leave the state, we have to leave our families to make a family-sustaining wage,” agreed Jason Shedlock, president of the Maine State Building and Construction Trades Council, which represents 7,000 workers across Maine. “It just doesn’t seem right. You’re making a wage while missing family events.”

In the end, Shedlock said, clean-energy investments have helped created not just jobs, but careers.

“A job is momentary: We work ourselves out of a job,” he said. “But we shouldn’t work ourselves out of a career. We work ourselves into a career. That’s what these federal tax credits do.”

Hayley Lawrence, with the Laborers' International Union of North America, said she trained through the union’s pre-apprentice and apprentice programs and had a job in the solar industry two days after she graduated. The opportunities provided by the clean-energy industry help younger people of all demographics to better their lives, she said.

A person stands at a podium.
Screenshot / Courtesy Maine Labor Climate Council
Hayley Lawrence

Said Eanes, “This energy transition is happening. The question is, is Maine and is the United States going to be a leader in this, or are we going to sit back and watch this transition happen elsewhere and be left behind?”

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