They did it. The House passed the “big, beautiful bill.”

The bill still needs to pass the Senate; negotiations aren’t over. To pay for it, the GOP needs to cut trillions of dollars in spending. As you read this, lawmakers and aides are wheeling and dealing, working around the clock, pressuring colleagues to cut programs that benefit other states while protecting programs that benefit their own.

Is this the best way to legislate? Maybe, maybe not, but it’s the system we have, and unless Sen. Susan Collins gets involved, Maine is about to be on the losing side. Dozens of Republican lawmakers have taken a stand to promote the pet programs that favor their states. But our senior senator is inexplicably silent, and failing to use her status to protect Mainers from imminent harm.

We need Collins to step up, because we have a big horse in this race: The clean energy production and investment tax credits have for decades kept down electricity costs in Maine while encouraging billions of dollars in economic development. These credits are juicy targets for Republicans trying to pay for the bill.

Originally enacted under President Bush Sr (the production credit) and President Bush Jr (the investment credit), Congress has repeatedly renewed both credits over the years. In Maine, the credits have supported the development of power plants, including biomass, wind, solar, hydropower, waste-to-energy and landfill methane. (These credits have nothing to do with our state laws around net energy billing.)

Existing and planned projects are projected to bring more than $8 billion in investment to the state, along with 9,000 jobs and 5,000 megawatts of electricity. On top of that, the credits include bonuses for projects that offer apprenticeships and pay prevailing wages.

No wonder Maine labor organizations have come out strongly in favor of protecting these credits.

But wait, there’s more!

The credits keep electricity prices down by making it cheaper to build new power plants, enabling developers to sell electricity at lower prices, and increasing supply. More than 90% of new power plants were eligible for credits last year, encouraging a competitive landscape that saves ratepayers hundreds of dollars on electricity bills.

Yet these credits are on the chopping block as Congress looks for deep cuts to pay for the “beautiful” bill. The House proposal axes the credits for all but immediately shovel-ready projects, and those will be handicapped with sourcing requirements so onerous as to make the credits functionally unusable.

At a time when electricity in Maine is already too expensive, ending these decades-old credits will increase electricity costs by as much as 17% and rob Maine of billions in economic development over the next 10 to 15 years. The CEO of a North Dakota utility summarized the danger in Congressional testimony, saying that the removal of these credits will “immediately harm ratepayers.”

The spotlight now shifts to the Senate, where there is a narrow window to save these credits before an anticipated July 4 final vote. With the GOP in control, only one member of Maine’s delegation can influence the outcome — and she’s nowhere to be seen.

Sen. Collins has seniority and influence. In a closely divided Senate, Collins can signal that cutting these credits is a non-starter. Four other Republican senators — including Alaska’s Murkowski and Utah’s Curtis — have already done so, signing a letter that warns of “immediate utility bill increases.”

Collins didn’t sign that letter. Instead, she has been silent on an urgent issue that will directly hurt Maine ratepayers, economic development and jobs.

Electricity in Maine is already too expensive. As the Senate prepares to vote, we can’t rely on other states to stand up for us. Mainers need Collins to join other Republicans in protecting the “45Y” and “48E” tax credits, without handicaps. No repeal, no picking and choosing winners, no poison pills. In any other scenario, Maine loses.