I started my career installing solar panels on rooftops. Truth be told, my installation skills were just average, but I found my strengths in project planning and people management. Over the past 19 years, I’ve had the opportunity to grow and now lead operations at Freedom Forever, a leading solar installation company, where I oversee 2,400 dedicated workers across 35 states.

What I love about the solar industry is that my story isn’t unique. I hear stories all the time of people in the solar industry starting in entry-level roles and advancing careers, earning good wages and doing meaningful work. I never ask potential hires about their college education; I care about their work ethic and willingness to learn. Unlike most of America, where income growth favors college graduates, the solar industry rewards skilled workers. Solar installers in Maine average $54,000 a year, about 25% higher than Maine’s per-capita income.

Unfortunately, there are provisions of the “big, beautiful bill” that would gut the solar industry and put all this success at risk. As written by the House and now being considered in the Senate, the bill would terminate 25D tax credits and restrict 48E tax credits for leased properties at the end of this year. Companies with purchasing agreements extending months out (or even years) can’t possibly adjust that quickly. The men and women who work with their hands will feel the pain of these provisions.

Sen. Susan Collins will be a critical vote on the bill. Working families need her to stand up for them. On behalf of the hardworking people across the solar industry in Maine, I’m urging her to keep the rug from getting pulled out from under us. We ask only that the phase-out of the 25D and 48E provisions extend over a few years, rather than abruptly at the end of 2025.

If America follows this common sense approach, we can save hundreds of thousands of jobs and small businesses nationwide.

There’s a lot on the line for Maine’s workers in particular. Freedom Forever’s branch in Lewiston is a microcosm of the stakes. We employ 50 people directly and support another 60 jobs in the community; we spent over a million dollars on roofing contractors, service providers and other local businesses last year alone.

Since energy prices skyrocketed in 2023, customer demand for solar has grown, and our company alone has completed close to 2,000 projects. This has created well-paying careers in our communities, with pathways to development like our apprenticeship program that gives people hands-on experience and training, while they’re being paid on the job. The loss of apprenticeship programs like these would cause generational damage to a workforce that cannot afford many more hits.

To be clear, while this sudden change would hurt my company, I’m far more concerned about the damage it would do to everyday Mainers. For a start, there are over 3,000 Maine jobs tied to the solar industry that could disappear immediately. Fifty-five small businesses could collapse.

But the damage would go beyond the people who work in the industry. Those job losses have ripple effects on other local businesses. What’s more, solar panels provide energy savings that Maine’s working families need. Already, solar panels save families an average of $2,600 a year in Maine. With energy demand and energy prices likely to rise in the coming years, the need for savings will only get more acute.

I learned a lot working on a roof. I learned to respect how hard the work is and the skills it takes to do it. I also learned that how you do things matters and the right way and the easy way are rarely the same.

Sen. Collins should teach Congress that same lesson. The “easy” way to claim cost savings is to just stop investing in working people’s futures. The easy way is to not care about the consequences for tradespeople or their families. The “right” way is to give companies and workers time to adjust, so they can continue to grow the economy, save money for families and, most importantly, give the men and women who work with their hands the opportunities — and the respect — they deserve.

The solar provisions of this megabill do what’s easy. I hope Sen. Collins will stand up for what’s right.