Watch John King’s full report from Iowa on CNN’s “Anderson Cooper 360” at 8 p.m. ET.
The homes are nearly identical, dotting both sides of the curvy road in a middle-class subdivision. But one stands out: 10 solar panels newly attached to its sloping roof as the crew links the system to the electric meter. The finishing touch: a new Midwest Solar magnet attached to the junction box.
Chris Mudd is the hands-on founder and CEO. He checked in with the crew, made a point of thanking the homeowner for her business and then took a moment to reflect on Midwest Solar’s swift progress.
“Our first 12 months I think we averaged three or four systems a month. … It was tough. Today, we are doing 15-20 systems a month,” Mudd says. “We lost money the first year we were in business and we’re going to make money our second year. I think that’s good. Starting a business from scratch is very difficult.”
Yes, he says, some of the credit goes to President Joe Biden’s clean energy initiatives – particularly tax incentives for solar systems.
“Absolutely,” Mudd says. “There are lots of grants available to business owners. The tax credit is at that 30%. Absolutely.”
But Mudd is a lifelong Republican, would prefer that tax credit money instead be spent on a border wall and is rooting for a Donald Trump comeback – beginning here in Iowa – to make that happen.
“Do I think Donald Trump’s perfect? No,” Mudd says. “Personally, I’m not a big fan of who he is and what he does and how he lives. But I think the decisions and things that he did for the country were good.”
Our conversation was the day after the former president was indicted again by a special counsel, this time on charges stemming from Trump’s effort to stay in power after losing the 2020…
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