The pro-renewable energy donors spending big money against Texas Republican Rep. Chip Roy in his campaign for attorney general are gearing up for the next round.
The donors are looking to punish Roy and other lawmakers who fought to repeal renewable energy tax incentives in the Republicans’ One Big Beautiful Bill Act last year.
The executives are funneling their money through the Invest in Tomorrow Coalition super political action committee, which spent more than $650,000 to defeat Roy in this month’s primary and is now planning to spend at least $500,000 ahead of a May runoff.
“No one went more out of their way to screw renewable energy in the Big Ugly Bill. And he has been proud of that,” Chris Coffey, CEO of Tusk Strategies, which is operating the anti-Roy political action committee, told POLITICO’s E&E News.
“There are folks in the industry that want to show him that they have long memories,” he said.
The group’s advertisements targeted conservative voters to argue that Roy is not right-wing enough to be Texas’ attorney general. It revealed its strategy after the March 3 primary and claimed some credit for Roy’s second-play finish against Mayes Middleton. Roy had previously polled in first place.
It was an initial test of an unusual new strategy for the renewable energy industry. While the sector has mainly tried in recent years to appeal to Republican politicians, last year’s passage of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act has led to a reevaluation among at least some leaders.
The law cut off nearly all clean energy tax credits for projects that break ground after July or are placed into service after next year. Roy was one of the loudest advocates for a quick end to the tax incentives, pushing lawmakers to go even further after initial proposals had set a longer glide path.
“Chip has been proud of his role in defeating renewable energy in the Big Ugly Bill, and so we are proud of our role in hopefully defeating him,” Coffey said.
Roy has been critical of the group in the past on the social media site X, saying he is being targeted because, “I dared to fight the Green New Scam and protect the Hill Country,” and that their strategy, “Speaks volumes about who they really fear…”
The Texas Republican’s campaign also slammed the group’s runoff announcement in a Tuesday statement: “The radical California Marxists trying to buy Texas elections fear one candidate for Attorney General — and that is Chip Roy, not the guy they’ve never heard of, David Mayes Middleton II.”
The pro-renewables PAC has seen a “huge outpouring” of support, with “significant investments,” Coffey said. It plans to spend in other big Republican primary races, with potential targets including Rep. Barry Moore in Alabama’s Senate race and Reps. Ralph Norman and Nancy Mace in the South Carolina governor’s race.
ITC’s biggest donors shown in disclosures so far include Chris Larsen, a philanthropist and cryptocurrency executive who founded tech firm Ripple Labs; Aligned Climate Capital CEO Peter Davidson; and Nextpower President Howard Wenger.
