Solar PAC got revenge on clean energy’s enemies in Congress

Before this election cycle, it was hard to identify any politician who feared the solar industry. The Invest in Tomorrow Coalition PAC set out to change that, and now has a roster of wins to back up its threats.

The super PAC, funded and led by solar entrepreneurs and investors, emerged during the midterm primaries with pledges to spend millions of dollars on attack ads against politicians who undermined clean energy policy. ITC got the outcomes it wanted in all six primaries it targeted. Its ads didn’t mention renewables, but instead used messages that tested well with voters — for instance blasting archconservative members of Congress for not being MAGA enough. 

In the general election, ITC engaged in 17 congressional races, many of them in districts that President Donald Trump won by double digits, said Tom Matzzie, who chairs the PAC. ITC saw its desired outcome in 13 of those races, counting the apparent, though not totally final, loss by Republican Lauren Boebert in Colorado’s 4th District. ITC’s targets won election in four cases: Arizona’s 2nd District, Florida’s 13th, Florida’s 27th, and New York’s 21st.

“We definitely sent a message that we can make an impact no matter where you are,” Matzzie said. Of the Republicans who signed a letter in May 2025 calling to ​“fully repeal” the Inflation Reduction Act, 40% won’t be returning to their jobs in Congress.

The PAC lost its perfect hit rate, but after spending $17 million across the election cycle, it’s on track for 19 wins out of 23 races, or 83% success.

ITC wasn’t solely responsible for all Republican losses. The group exploited a political environment that had soured on unified GOP control of Washington, amid rising costs, an open-ended war in Iran that disrupted the global energy trade, novel and highly lucrative forms of corruption, and masked federal operatives attacking immigrants and citizens alike in the streets of American cities. 

But the group demonstrated a knack for homing in on its targets’ weaknesses and amplifying them to voters who might not have gotten the message otherwise. The PAC also frequently trolled the candidates to get under their skin. After the election, the group issued press statements calling Brandon Herrera, who lost in Texas’ 23rd, ​“one of the most despicable candidates we’ve ever seen run for office,” and saying of the incumbent in New Jersey’s 2nd, ​“Jeff Van Drew always looked out for Jeff Van Drew, and now he can do it full time.”

In several races, ITC’s targets ended up corroborating the group’s effectiveness, by giving interviews venting about how the PAC was making reelection harder for them. Boebert recently guest-hosted ​“The Matt Gaetz Show” — a conservative talk show — and spent some of that time in the spotlight criticizing the solar PAC for obscuring its true policy aim behind ads on other topics.

To maximize its impact, the PAC deliberately chose races where promising Democratic candidates weren’t getting much outside funding. It became the biggest spender in Indiana’s 5th District, dropping more money on ads than either candidate’s campaign mustered. After the Republican lost, the group released a braggadocious statement to the press: ​“Tell Victoria Spartz. We want her to know it was us.”

While that assertion would be tough to prove, the PAC’s founders previously told Canary Media that their goal is to establish narrative influence: If members of Congress believe that voting to strip incentives from the solar industry will cost them in their next election, they may think twice about it next time. Now that nearly all the PAC’s targets, many of whom hail from the ultraconservative House Freedom Caucus, have indeed lost their jobs, the threat is credible.

The last two sessions of Congress delivered historic highs followed by historic lows for the clean energy industry, emphasizing the value of not just passing policy but also making it stick. That’s where ITC’s retributive style has the most to offer, and its well-publicized results will still be on file if a future Congress has a chance to revisit laws that help the clean energy industry thrive.

“Our overall hope is we can come to a place of peace with politicians of both parties and move forward,” Matzzie said. ​“I’d much rather our industry was boring.”

For the next few years, at least, the diminished Freedom Caucus won’t have the sway it exerted over the last two years, when Republicans had a threadbare majority. Battles over energy policy will now unfold within a pro-clean-energy Democratic caucus.

Election season never really stops, however, and the 2028 presidential primary will offer high-impact opportunities to push candidates to support clean energy, or hound them for past attacks against it.

“We are not going away,” Matzzie said.