The 1603 Treasury Grant Program lives to see another day. Late last night Congress passed its major tax-cut deal – and with it extended this cash-in-lieu-of-tax-credit (rolls of the tongue doesn’t it?) program for commercial solar and wind energy systems. President Obama signed the bill into law this afternoon, keeping the TGP, which was set to expire this month, in place for another year.
As 2010 drew to a close, the TGP extension became the single highest federal policy priority for keeping our nation’s solar market growing and providing jobs through these tough times. The economic downturn had rendered our hard-won federal renewable incentive – a 30% tax credit – rather unhelpful as investor appetite for tax credits disappeared along with their revenues. So in 2008, Congress passed the Treasury Grant Program to allow businesses to collect a cash grant rather than the tax credit for their investment in renewables.
The program made the federal renewable incentive useful again. And in doing so it made solar a bright spot in our nation’s economy. Since launching in July 2009, the TGP has helped move forward more than 1,100 solar projects in 42 states and supported $18 billion in investment. The program has been critical in allowing the solar industry to grow by over 100 percent in 2010, create enough new solar capacity to power 200,000 homes and provide work to more than 93,000 Americans. This critical extension means we can expect more of the same economic and environmental benefit.
Hearty congrats to our compadres at SEIA who provided invaluable guidance and boots on the ground in DC. Thanks to the bi-partisan bill champions in both the Senate and House for their leadership. And special thanks to all you Vote Solar members out there who helped us send nearly 20,000 emails (!!) to Congress in support of the extension over the past year. Let’s keep letting our elected officials in Washington know we’ve got their backs when it comes to passing policies that build our new energy economy.
