Trump’s Tax Bill Could Squeeze Bitcoin Miners Who Rely on Solar Power

(Crypto News)-25/06/2025

Donald Trump’s tax bill, narrowly passed by the U.S. House of Representatives in late May, could result in a major increase in energy costs for Bitcoin miners who rely on solar power and other renewables, according to industry analysts.

The bill, dubbed by the Republican President “big, beautiful bill,” would phase out Biden-era renewable energy incentives, with tax credit cuts of 30% on solar energy by 2028. The legislation is currently being reviewed by the Senate before it can be passed into law.

“Trump’s bill could result in a 10–15% increase in electricity costs, particularly in areas where miners rely primarily on solar energy,” Michael Jerlis, CEO of Bitcoin mining pool EMCD, told Cryptonews.

Nearly 43% of the Bitcoin network is now powered by renewable energy sources, with solar energy accounting for just 3.2% of the total, according to the latest data from the Cambridge Centre for Alternative Finance.

Hydropower accounts for the biggest share with 23.4%, followed by wind energy at 15.4%, and other renewables at 0.5%. It’s unclear what proportion of the 137 Bitcoin miners across 21 U.S. states rely on solar power.

“The industry may be significantly impacted by any changes to the regulations that affect these [energy] sources,” Jerlis said, adding:

“The bill’s impact on the mining sector will be largely determined by local laws, energy mix configurations, and the specific tax burden miners face in each region.”

Solar projects, often built in remote areas, rely on Bitcoin miners as “anchor tenants” to justify development. Experts say without subsidies, new solar farms could stall, causing a squeeze on miners’ access to low-cost power.

Can Bitcoin Thrive Without Subsidies?

But that may not always be the case. According to Mason Jappa, CEO of U.S.-based Bitcoin miner Blockware, the assumption that miners depend on solar is misguided.

“Miners don’t necessarily rely on solar,” he said, in response to questions from Cryptonews. “In fact, it’s really the other way around. Solar energy producers are very reliant on Bitcoin miners.”

That’s because large-scale solar farms are often located in remote areas where retail energy demand is low and transmission to cities, to larger consumers, is costly.

But BTC miners “are able to provide solar power producers with a ‘backstop’ of demand” because they can operate anywhere there’s a cheap power source, said Jappa.

In this light, he says, Trump’s clean energy tax credit cuts do not spell disaster for miners who depend on electricity generated from the sun. On the contrary, the economic incentive for collaboration could actually increase. Jappa explains:

“Investors looking to build new solar farms have less uncertainty because they know that Bitcoin miners are almost always willing and able to purchase their energy. Ultimately this will lead to increased solar energy production even in the absence of government subsidies.”

Environmental analyst Daniel Batten concurred with Jappa, saying Bitcoin doesn’t need subsidies to make renewables like solar economically viable.

“Bitcoin mining is politically agnostic,” Batten said. “It can operate in an environment with or without subsidies just as well.”

Speaking to Cryptonews, Batten cited academic research by Hakimi et al, which shows that utility-scale solar projects achieve faster ROI, or return on investment, in less than half the time when using Bitcoin mining.

Rooftop solar installations, too, achieve 57% better ROI, outperforming batteries by a factor of four when combined with mining. Batten sees any tax cuts from Trump’s bill as encouraging more market-driven innovation.

“So if solar operators (as some already have), start looking at a coordinated solar/Bitcoin mining rollout solution, that’s a more economically sustainable alternative than depending on subsidies, which may or may not exist depending on factors outside of your direct control.”

Bonus Depreciation: A Lifeline for Bitcoin Miners

On the campaign trail, Donald Trump promised to eliminate the clean energy tax credits passed by former President Joe Biden under the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022. The tax credits were a key pillar of the Biden administration.

Trump argued that energy subsidies are expensive and harmful to business. In a post on his Truth Social network over the weekend, Trump continued his attacks on green tax credits, calling them a “giant scam”.

“I would prefer that this money be used somewhere else, including reductions,” he said. “Windmills and the rest of this junk are the most expensive and inefficient energy in the world, is destroying the beauty of the environment (sic).”