Wind and solar groups commend U.S. energy legislation

WASHINGTON, DC, US, August 17, 2005 (Refocus Weekly)

Both the American Wind Energy Association and the Solar Energy Industries Association have welcomed the Energy Policy Act of 2005, which has been signed into law by president George Bush.

The Act contains “a number of important provisions for the wind energy industry,” says AWEA, in addition to the extension of the production tax credit through 2007. The Act also requires that utility system reliability rules be non-discriminatory and it provides incentives to encourage construction of new and upgraded transmission lines.

“By requiring that new national reliability rules be non-discriminatory and by providing incentives to ease transmission bottlenecks, the Energy Policy Act chips away at two important barriers to continued wind energy development in this country," says executive director Randall Swisher. “While they do not replace the need for the production tax credit to spur production of clean, safe, domestic, renewable energy like wind, these long-term reliability and transmission provisions could help level the playing field and brighten the long-term planning horizon for wind power.”

The language in the legislation requires for the first time that all reliability rules be non-discriminatory, which will require the North American Electric Reliability Councils to stop setting higher hurdles for wind than for other power resources.

"With the solar provisions in this Energy Bill, Washington is supporting individual Americans who make a real contribution towards U.S. energy independence,” says Rhone Resch of SEIA. “Installing solar energy on your roof is one of the most meaningful steps an individual can take to reduce our reliance on foreign sources of energy and help declare energy independence.”

The legislation produces “the strongest national policy for solar power in two decades” and means that solar now “comes with a more affordable price tag, and more consumers will take a step towards energy independence by choosing solar power.”

“The president toured the National Solar Thermal Test Facility at Sandia National Laboratories today, underscoring the message that Washington wants solar power to play a significant role in our nation's future energy supply,” adds Resch. “The solar tax provisions in this Energy Bill will help the U.S. solar industry to meet that challenge.”

For the first time since 1985, homeowners who install solar energy systems will receive a tax credit worth 30% of system cost, capped at US$2,000. Companies that purchase solar will also receive a credit worth 30% of system cost and these tax credits “will bring solar power costs over the tipping point in many areas of the country, and the U.S. has the best solar resources of any country in the industrialized world.”
 

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