Calling for ‘stable, reliable, well-structured tax policy,’ the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA) has weighed into the tax reform debate currently taking place in Congress. SEIA says it provided extensive insight and comments to the House Ways and Means Committee, which is tasked with overhauling the federal tax code.
‘Since the enactment of the 30 percent commercial and residential solar investment tax credit (ITC) in 2005, domestic deployment of solar has increased twelve-fold, the cost to consumers has significantly dropped, and we have developed a domestic industry that today employs over 119,000 Americans,’ Rhone Resch, president and CEO of SEIA, told the committee's working group. The group is led by Rep. Kevin Brady, R-Texas, and Rep. Mike Thompson, D-Calif.
‘By any objective measure, these important incentives are doing exactly what they were meant to do – allow our nation to reap the significant energy, economic and environmental benefits associated with utilizing our abundant solar resources,’ Resch continued.
Resch also told the lawmakers that the U.S. installed 3,313 MW of utility-scale and distributed PV capacity – up from 1,892 MW in 2011 – and that the solar sector has grown from less than 15,000 employees in 2005 to more than 119,000 today, reflecting the importance of the ITC.
According to SEIA, the U.S. lacks a comprehensive energy policy, instead relying on the tax code to provide incentives to develop new energy sources. The group believes it is important to maintain these policies until our largest source of domestic energy – solar – becomes a significant part of our energy mix.
‘Stable, reliable and well-structured tax policy provides the framework for innovation throughout the solar value chain – from scientists developing novel solar technologies to the installers offering new financing options that make solar more affordable for consumers,’ Resch said.
