Some of Long Island’s biggest green-energy projects, including offshore wind and battery storage facilities, appear to have escaped the chopping block in the Trump administration’s "Big Beautiful Bill." But wider impacts on home solar, heat pumps and geothermal energy programs, which benefit homeowners and keep hundreds of local companies busy, appear poised to impact the local energy economy.

The developers of the biggest and most visible green-energy projects, which are installing scores of wind turbines for New York and Long Island electric customers, say their projects won’t be hit by the loss of the 30% tax credit. The bill provides a limited safe harbor for projects that start construction within a year of the bill’s signing, or are producing energy by the end of 2027, according to reports, a carve out worth billions of dollars for project developers.

Empire Wind, under construction by developer Equinor of Norway 14 miles off Jones Beach, is expected to be completed and producing energy by late 2026 or early 2027. The fact that construction had already begun got it past a key milestone in the federal bill, and its completion date sets it well within the limit of the legislation.

But a second project that had been planned for construction right after that, called Empire Wind 2, likely would have been impacted by the legislation’s requirements. However, Equinor had already canceled the project, which would have delivered more than 1,000 megawatts of power for the Long Island grid, unlike Empire 1, which is delivering all its power to New York City.

LIPA’s power plan had banked on Empire 2 to be completed by 2030, so LIPA must make up the gap — or keep existing power plants around for longer than anticipated. Some are already calling for LIPA to upgrade or "repower" those old plants, as more natural gas may be coming to the region if a project called the Northeast Supply Enhancement, which has been submitted for state review, is approved.

Equinor spokesman David Schoetz, in an email, noted the 2027 in-service requirement under Trump’s bill is for projects that "don't start construction until after July 4, 2026. [For] projects under construction already, like Empire Wind, we expect no retroactive change to the timeline and safe harbor rules they originally qualified under." Foundations are being driven into the ground for the project in federal waters, and towers are expected to be in place next year.

Orsted, the Danish energy giant that owns the South Fork Wind project feeding the South Fork of Long Island, has two other projects underway and the company said it believes they remain eligible for the federal subsidy.

"Our northeast construction program continues to progress according to schedule," spokeswoman Meaghan Wims wrote in an email. Revolution Wind, with energy slated for New England, began construction in 2023 and is "on track for completion in 2026," Wims said. "Sunrise Wind broke ground in 2024 and is on track for completion in 2027."

Sunrise Wind, which has completed nearly all of its on-land construction in Brookhaven Town, will deliver 924 megawatts of power, enough for half a million Long Islanders when the wind is blowing, to the LIPA grid.

Many elements of the "Big Beautiful Bill" and its impact on specific federal subsidies remain in question, and some developers contacted by Newsday referred to press reports or industry association guidance for their interpretation of the impacts.

The White House, asked for guidance on green-energy technologies and timelines, responded with a statement:

"President Trump and the nearly 80 million Americans who supported his America First energy agenda are not interested in advancing scam energy industries that embolden our adversaries, stifle domestic energy production, and raise prices for countless Americans," White House spokesman Harrison Fields wrote. Trump’s bill "is a complete overhaul of the Biden administration’s slush fund for the Green New Deal lobby and will further unleash the might of America’s energy dominance while continuing to lower costs for millions of families."

New York State’s Energy Research and Development Authority, which has been leading the state’s effort toward a fully carbon-free grid by 2040, also was unable to provide specific guidance the bill’s impacts, saying it was "still reviewing" the measure.

The agency nevertheless said the law "puts thousands of jobs at risk and could cut billions in funding and impact overall market momentum."

Solar energy installers, as reported last week, appear to bracing for the biggest impacts from the bill, as the 30% tax credit on the full price of systems that can range up to $35,000 will go away starting Jan. 1, 2026. (Tax credits of $7,500 for electric cars disappears even sooner, on Sept. 30).

Noah Ginsburg, executive director of the New York Solar Electric Industry Association, sent a notice to members last week, detailing the changes, which he said would result in job losses and higher energy prices for customers. The group is calling for state leaders to bolster programs and reduce red tape in approving installations to help offset the changes.

In addition to the loss of the home solar rooftop tax credit on customer-owned systems, the bill puts a limit on the tax credit for larger solar facilities. Those that start construction after July 4, 2026 must be placed in service by the end of 2027 to receive the credit, the group told members, though facilities begun before next July 4 aren’t subject to the in-service deadline. Leased solar energy installations, including for homes, aren’t subject to the same shorter deadline to receive the tax credit. Those systems get to claim the credit until 2027.

Worries about how the federal government could interpret the tax incentives may only compound other issues hampering green-energy on Long Island. Dan Panico, supervisor of Brookhaven Town, said he too is eyeing potential impacts of the bill.

He’s working with SUNation, one of the Island’s largest solar installers, to help process more building permits for solar as that industry faces the loss of the 30% tax credit.

SUNation chief executive Scott Maskin said expediting building permits and PSEG approvals for solar installations will be his next biggest challenge, to help his customers qualify for tax credits worth $10,000 or more.

"The next six months are going to be a free-for-all" of doing everything it takes to qualify systems for the credits, he said, as he meets with town supervisors and urges LIPA to do everything it can to expedite projects. "Towns have to see these are meaningful dollars for their constituents" and respond with quicker building-permit approvals, he said.

Panico has other concerns. New timelines for utility-scale solar also could impact the town’s plans to install five more solar farms atop its landfill in Brookhaven. "We’re reaching out to our partner to see realistically how many of the 5 megawatt projects he believes he can build under the federal framework," he said.

Geothermal energy systems, which use deep underground pipes and heat-pump technology to provide efficient heating and cooling systems, also will lose federal tax credits for systems built for home use by years end. As with solar, that could sharply increase the system price for customers, adding more than $10,000 to the cost of systems of upward of $40,000, though some expected wealthier customers to opt for the technology despite the cost.

Jason Giglio, owner of Xtraire, a Hicksville-based installer of heating and cooling systems, including heat pumps, said he’d learned Monday of the impact of the loss of the federal tax credit. Under a Biden-era program, all-electric heat pumps could get a 30% tax credit of up to $2,000 for installations that can cost anywhere from a few thousand dollars to tens of thousands.

Losing the credit could "push people to [convert to heat pumps] sooner, but it’s going to prevent people from doing it next year," Giglio said. Some customers had opted to install heat-pump systems in only part of their homes, expecting to do more later. Now, those plans are in question. "Everyone has a budget," he said.

"It’s going to be a sprint to the finish line" to get customers to commit and start construction before year’s end, said Mike Bailis, chief growth executive at Energywise Heating and AC. He said there will continue to be a market in new construction and in the replacement market for outdated geothermal systems. "The biggest hit will be with those customers who says it’s a cool idea" and want to switch from gas for environmental or efficiency reasons.

Home battery storage systems won’t be eligible for the tax credit after year’s end, but commercial battery storage facilities such as those planned for across the state and Long Island, will get a longer time to receive federal subsidies, through 2033. The only catch, said Ginsburg, could be new foreign-content restrictions.

"The biggest concern and challenge facing energy storage is will they be able to meet the foreign-entity of concern restrictions," he said, noting the restrictions are about limiting content from China.

Caithness Energy, which plans to operate two battery storage facilities in Yaphank on the property of its natural-gas fired power plant, indicated the timeline of tax credits and a state procurement process will determine the fate of its projects.

"The availability of federal tax credits will certainly influence the pricing we, and others, will be comfortable offering" in the state request for proposals that Caithness intends to enter, said spokesman Don Miller. Caithness still must complete the local permitting process, financing and win a state procurement, but if those all are completed "on a timely basis, we believe that it is certainly possible to start construction in 12 months and have the project online by the end of 2027."