No matter the challenge, America always rises to the occasion. From the first successful airplane flight to landing a man on the moon, nothing can stop American grit and ingenuity. It is what makes our country great.
Today, we face new challenges: winning the global AI race and fueling an American manufacturing renaissance.
Doing so requires an enormous amount of electricity—much more than America can generate today. It’s an undertaking that will take Herculean efforts of infrastructure building unlike anything we’ve seen since the end of World War II.
To maintain American dominance on a global stage, the U.S. must build 450 gigawatts of generation over the next five years—to put that in perspective, that’s the equivalent of adding enough generation to power 75 Miami metro areas or 11 Floridas. For context, just over 40 gigawatts of new natural gas and nuclear has been built over the last five years in the U.S.
Now is not the time to take options off the table. The stakes are too high. Finishing second in artificial intelligence cannot be an option. Nor should squandering an opportunity to create American jobs.
Clean energy tax credits
It’s why the debate over clean energy tax credits cannot be just about renewable energy. It’s much more than that. It’s about whether we want to turn our backs on the only forms of power generation available at scale at a time when the U.S. needs every electron it can get.
I say this not as an ideologue, but as the CEO of the country’s largest electric provider and America’s quintessential all-forms-of-energy company.
NextEra Energy is not just a leader in home-grown renewables. We own and operate more natural gas power plants than anyone in America. We also operate one of the nation’s largest nuclear fleets. We own pipelines and a natural gas extraction business. Our sole abiding interest is delivering low-cost energy to our customers as quickly as possible.
It’s clear Congress wants to roll back the clean energy tax credits—we’re not here to debate that. But for the sake of America’s power supply, economy, and national security, we urge lawmakers to take a measured approach.
Because new nuclear power plants are not available until the mid-2030s and traditional power plants take years to build and turbines are sold out through the early 2030s, a full-stop, immediate elimination of credits or a change to start of construction would effectively shut off America’s supply of new power plants through the end of the decade.
Until then, America’s only option is to build wind, solar, and battery storage—which can serve as a bridge while we expand traditional power plant supply chains and workforces.
Lower energy costs
Last week’s Senate Finance Committee draft bill acknowledges this reality and, in contrast to the House version, offers a pragmatic approach to phasing out the clean energy credits, recognizing that businesses signed contracts and made enormous capital decisions based on current law. By some estimates, over $1 trillion of U.S. energy infrastructure investments could be put at risk.
Practical, commonsense provisions, like tying credits to the start of construction as they are phased out, provide a runway to finish projects and put much-needed electrons onto the grid while keeping power prices low for American homes and businesses.
Remember, energy companies do not get the credits—they flow directly to American homeowners and business owners through lower energy costs. And in rural communities across America, renewable and storage projects inject significant tax revenue often used for essential services like police, schools, and roads.
Investing in American infrastructure and putting our country first should not divide us. We should be united about what’s at stake, compromise in deference to the facts, and work together to build what America needs.
We have a golden opportunity to meet this uniquely American moment. Let’s come together and get this right for America.
John Ketchum is the chairman and CEO of NextEra Energy, one of the largest electric power and energy infrastructure companies in North America.
The opinions expressed in Fortune.com commentary pieces are solely the views of their authors and do not necessarily reflect the opinions and beliefs of Fortune.
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