Having originally introduced an initiative in 2010 to expand the federal investment tax credit (ITC) to those participating in a community solar project, Senator Mark Udall of Colorado has recently re-introduced his “Solar Uniting Neighborhoods (SUN) Act” in Congress.  See here, bill here.

Follow the SUN Act Campaign here.

» Read the rest of this entry «

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. » Read the rest of this entry «

With the election over, Congress now has just a few weeks to tackle any unfinished business before adjourning for the year. First up on the list is extending popular tax cuts that are otherwise set to expire at the end of the year. Along with our friends at SEIA, we are urging the Senate to extend time-sensitive renewable energy legislation as part of this last hurrah for 2010.

If we’re going to keep solar growing and creating jobs right now when our nation needs it most, the single greatest federal policy priority is an extension of the 1603 Treasury Grant Program that’s set to expire next month. » Read the rest of this entry «

Posted by Annie Carmichael

It is finally time to celebrate. Congress has 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) and the House (263-171).  The President signed the bill into law the same day.

It has been a long road and we want to thank everyone 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 Industry Association who walked the halls of Congress day in and day out 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.

A Note on the Bailout Discussion
The solar investment tax credit, and the rest of the clean energy tax incentives, passed as part of the ‘Economic Stabilization’ bill. When we sent out on email on this development on Wednesday, we received dozens of thoughtful, well-articulated responses challenging us for ‘supporting the bail-out package.’

We would like to take a moment to clarify our position on this. Vote Solar doesn’t have a position on the bailout. When the ITC was included in the bailout package that the Senate chose to move, we decided to send out the email because we felt obligated to tell our membership about potential game-changing developments regarding solar so that you could act as your conscience dictated.

Like you, we would have preferred a clean stand-alone renewable energy bill. The reality though is that federal politics is rarely a clean process. The renewable energy tax incentives have been held hostage to a larger political debate all year–with 15 previous votes and no results–and this latest iteration is no exception. This is one of the main reasons why 95% of our efforts are on state-level policies, and we are very much looking forward to continuing our work there to take advantage of the boost that the passage of the ITC provides.

All the advocacy efforts paid off! -Sept. 9th D.C. Rally

Posted by Annie Carmichael

Sigh. And the impasse continues. Since the last solar tax credit renewal 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.