In a letter filed on Monday, the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA), alongside several other energy trade and advocacy organizations, is urging Congress to modify the tax code to include energy storage as an eligible technology for the investment tax credit (ITC).
“As you consider end-of-year legislation, we urge you to clarify that the investment tax credit in Section 48 and 25 of the tax code includes energy storage as an eligible technology,” wrote SEIA, Citizens for Responsible Energy Solutions, ClearPath Action, the American Wind Energy Association, the National Hydropower Association, the National Electrical Manufacturers Association and Advanced Energy Economy.
They point specifically to a “common-sense bill,” the Energy Storage Tax Incentive and Deployment Act (H.R.4649 / S.1868), which has received “bipartisan, bicameral support” and would “ensure a level playing field for energy storage to compete with all other energy resources made eligible for the ITC.”
The letter adds, “We encourage you to support capital formation, investment and jobs in making America’s power system more reliable, resilient, and cost-effective with energy storage.”
In a statement, Abigail Ross Hopper, president and CEO of SEIA, says, “As our letter to Senate and House leadership details, energy storage systems are critically important to the modernization of America’s electric grid and represent a massive opportunity for clean energy, particularly solar power. In the energy world, you’d be hard-pressed to find an example of two technologies that complement each other as well as solar-plus-storage.
“Yet without clear rules of the road, companies continue to face financial uncertainty in their investments. Inclusion in the ITC is a crucial step if we’re going to harness storage’s full potential.”
