By Emmanuel T. Erediano
emmanuel@mvariety.com
Variety News Staff
THE House of Representatives last week adopted House Joint Resolution 24-11 directing the Commonwealth Utilities Corporation and other government agencies involved to expedite renewable energy projects in the CNMI.
Authored by Rep. Vincent “Kobre” Aldan, who chairs the House Committee on Public Utilities, Transportation and Communications, H.J.R. 24-11, now with the Senate, noted that President Donald Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act “substantially shortens the window for federal clean-energy support by terminating residential solar, battery storage, and home-efficiency credits for equipment placed in service after Dec. 31, 2025.”
The federal law, the joint resolution states, also preserves utility-scale solar and wind incentives only for projects that begin by July 4, 2026, and are placed in service by Dec. 31, 2027, subject to strict documentation and supply chain restrictions.
These curtailed incentives, H.J.R. 24-11 says, “create a compressed federal opportunity window within which the Commonwealth must act or risk forfeiting remaining credits and program eligibility.”
The joint resolution gives CUC 90 days to prepare, in coordination with other relevant government agencies, and submit to the Legislature a Comprehensive Energy & Resilience Action Plan, which shall include:
• Inventory of all active, planned, and partially developed renewable-energy storage, micro-grid, and resilience projects.
• Identification of projects that can realistically meet One Big Beautiful Bill Act’s tax credit eligibility deadlines.
• Designation of “shovel-ready” or “near-shovel-ready” projects for accelerated permitting and procurement.
• Recommendations for fallback financing strategies (Commonwealth-funded, ratepayer-funded, or hybrid) for critical projects unable to meet the deadlines imposed by federal law.
• Specific timetables, benchmarks, and inter-agency coordination milestones.
Emmanuel “Arnold” Erediano has a bachelor of science degree in Journalism. He started his career as police beat reporter. Loves to cook. Eats death threats for breakfast.
