U.S. Senators Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., John Ensign, D-Nev., and 21 Senate co-sponsors have introduced The Clean Energy Tax Stimulus Act of 2008, which is poised to provide critical incentives for the solar industry.
Principal among the legislation's incentives is an eight-year extension of the commercial investment tax credit (ITC). A one-year extension of the residential ITC – along with the removal of the existing $2,000 cap – and the suspension of the utility exemption have also been proposed.
‘If both houses of Congress don't pass a bill, and the president doesn't sign it into law within the next one to two months, we will start to see as much as $20 billion of anticipated [renewables] investment in 2008 delayed or cancelled,’ Cantwell commented. ‘This could result in more than 100,000 U.S. jobs lost at a time when the country is skidding into a recession and energy prices keep getting higher.’
‘Some remarkable energy projects have come online, and with the right tax incentives, they will thrive and help meet our growing energy demands,’ Ensign added.
The Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA) is urging professionals at all corners of the solar industry to contact their senators to voice support for passage of the bill. Sixty-one co-sponsors are needed to send the bill through the Senate.
‘We look forward to working with Senators Cantwell and Ensign and their respective leadership to see that a long-term extension of the ITC passes in the Senate, makes its way through conference and is signed by the president,’ says Rhone Resch, SEIA's president.
