Federal Solar ITC Campaign 10/03/08 BIG UPDATE! =FAQs=
Federal Solar ITC Campaign
10/03/08 BIG UPDATE!
It is finally time to celebrate. Congress just passed a long-term extension of the solar investment tax credit. An 8-year extension of both the commercial solar tax credit and the residential solar tax credit (with removal of the monetary cap), passed the Senate (74-24) on Thursday and the House (263-171) this afternoon. The ITC, and other clean energy tax incentives, were rolled into the economic stabilization package. The President is set to sign the bill into law shortly.
It's been a long road and we want to thank each of you for adding your voice to this campaign; the consistent public pressure saved this credit. We also want to give props to the hard working folks at the solar energy industries association who walked the halls of Congress day in and day for two years rallying support for this vital tax credit. Thanks to all of you over 440,000 jobs will be created in the solar field in the next 8 years, and over $232 billion of investment will be pumped into our economy. Now that's economic stimulus.
FAQs
Q: When will the new 30% residential ITC (without the cap) go into effect?
A: January 1, 2009
Q: When will utilities be able to claim the ITC?
A: As soon as the bill is signed into law. So now.
Q: Will commercial customers now be able to claim the ITC against the AMT?
A: Yes
10/02/08
Yesterday the entirety of H.R. 6049, as passed by the Senate on 9/23, was added to the bailout package (aka the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008) that will be voted on this evening in the Senate. So now the clean energy tax incentives are tied to a $700 billion bail out package; not exactly the vehicle we expected to be part of. The bill will likely pass the Senate, but its prospects are unclear in the House. Stay tuned.
9/29/08
Sigh. And the impasse continues. Since the last update we have had some high and low moments. First the high: on 9/23, after some serious bi-partisan maneuverings, the Senate passed H.R. 6049 (including a 8-year residential and commercial ITC, with a removal of the residential cap) by a vote of 93 to 2. The Senate warned that this package, in its entirety, was the only package that could pass the Senate. Senator Ensign (R-NV) put it bluntly: "If the House does not pass the [Senate] bill, it's dead, it's dead for the year.”
Then, instead of taking up the full Senate version, the House decided to take the bill apart and debate each issue in the bill separately (clean energy tax incentives, alternative minimum tax relief for middle class families, disaster tax relief, and on and on). This was a low point, a very low point. Because even though the House approved a stand-alone package of renewable energy tax incentives extensions by a vote of 257-166 it was obvious that this stand-alone, fully paid for strategy (tried 5 times now) would die in the Senate.
While both the Senate and House packages create and extend various energy incentives, there are key differences. For example the House plan was fully offset at the insistence of House Democrats, and the Senate package was only partially paid for as part of a delicate bipartisan compromise that allowed the bill to advance after months of stalemate.
Today the House announced that they will adjourn for a short recess and will come back October 2. We are hopeful that they will immediately get back to work on this now incredibly time-sensitive issue. At a press conference today Majority Leader Hoyer said he will continue to work with Senator Reid to see what can be done with regard to energy and other tax extenders "even if it's next year." Next year Rep. Hoyer is too late.
SOURCE: http://www.votesolar.org/itc.html
10/03/08 BIG UPDATE!
It is finally time to celebrate. Congress just passed a long-term extension of the solar investment tax credit. An 8-year extension of both the commercial solar tax credit and the residential solar tax credit (with removal of the monetary cap), passed the Senate (74-24) on Thursday and the House (263-171) this afternoon. The ITC, and other clean energy tax incentives, were rolled into the economic stabilization package. The President is set to sign the bill into law shortly.
It's been a long road and we want to thank each of you for adding your voice to this campaign; the consistent public pressure saved this credit. We also want to give props to the hard working folks at the solar energy industries association who walked the halls of Congress day in and day for two years rallying support for this vital tax credit. Thanks to all of you over 440,000 jobs will be created in the solar field in the next 8 years, and over $232 billion of investment will be pumped into our economy. Now that's economic stimulus.
FAQs
Q: When will the new 30% residential ITC (without the cap) go into effect?
A: January 1, 2009
Q: When will utilities be able to claim the ITC?
A: As soon as the bill is signed into law. So now.
Q: Will commercial customers now be able to claim the ITC against the AMT?
A: Yes
10/02/08
Yesterday the entirety of H.R. 6049, as passed by the Senate on 9/23, was added to the bailout package (aka the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008) that will be voted on this evening in the Senate. So now the clean energy tax incentives are tied to a $700 billion bail out package; not exactly the vehicle we expected to be part of. The bill will likely pass the Senate, but its prospects are unclear in the House. Stay tuned.
9/29/08
Sigh. And the impasse continues. Since the last update we have had some high and low moments. First the high: on 9/23, after some serious bi-partisan maneuverings, the Senate passed H.R. 6049 (including a 8-year residential and commercial ITC, with a removal of the residential cap) by a vote of 93 to 2. The Senate warned that this package, in its entirety, was the only package that could pass the Senate. Senator Ensign (R-NV) put it bluntly: "If the House does not pass the [Senate] bill, it's dead, it's dead for the year.”
Then, instead of taking up the full Senate version, the House decided to take the bill apart and debate each issue in the bill separately (clean energy tax incentives, alternative minimum tax relief for middle class families, disaster tax relief, and on and on). This was a low point, a very low point. Because even though the House approved a stand-alone package of renewable energy tax incentives extensions by a vote of 257-166 it was obvious that this stand-alone, fully paid for strategy (tried 5 times now) would die in the Senate.
While both the Senate and House packages create and extend various energy incentives, there are key differences. For example the House plan was fully offset at the insistence of House Democrats, and the Senate package was only partially paid for as part of a delicate bipartisan compromise that allowed the bill to advance after months of stalemate.
Today the House announced that they will adjourn for a short recess and will come back October 2. We are hopeful that they will immediately get back to work on this now incredibly time-sensitive issue. At a press conference today Majority Leader Hoyer said he will continue to work with Senator Reid to see what can be done with regard to energy and other tax extenders "even if it's next year." Next year Rep. Hoyer is too late.
SOURCE: http://www.votesolar.org/itc.html
Comments are closed for this blog post
Featured Discussion
Twitter Feed
© 2009 Created by PickensPlan
Badges | Community Guidelines | Report an Issue | Privacy | Terms of Service
