Thompson bill extends solar power tax credit

May 21 - McClatchy-Tribune Content Agency, LLC - Times-Herald, Vallejo, Calif.

U.S. Rep. Mike Thompson, a senior member of the House Ways and Means Committee, this week introduced the New Energy for America Act which extends investment tax credits for energy efficient residential and commercial property through 2021.

"The (tax credit) is one of the most important tools we have that supports the deployment of solar energy in the United States," Thompson said in a statement. "Since 2006, when the residential and commercial ITCs first took effect, employment in the U.S. solar industry has grown to 175,000 jobs at more than 8,000 solar companies. It has a proven track record of success and it's important that we extend it."

The solar investment tax credit is paying dividends for the country, said Thompson, whose 5th California Congressional district encompasses all or part of Solano, Napa, Contra Costa, Lake and Sonoma counties.

"Today, the solar industry is pumping $18 billion a year into our economy and creating tens of thousands of new jobs," Solar energy Industries Association President and CEO Rhone Resch added. "By 2016, we will be generating enough clean solar energy nationwide to power 8 million homes, offsetting 45 million metric tons of damaging carbon emissions -- the equivalent of removing 10 million cars off our roads and highways."

In 2008, the tax credit was extended for eight years. In that time it has leveraged billions in investment in American solar facilities, resulting in installed capacity equal to 97 percent of total solar in America, according to Thompson's office. The installed cost of solar power has also fallen by 73 percent since 2006, and prices continue to drop while efficiencies of solar panels have increased, the statement notes.

The tax credit is set to expire at the end of 2016, though, and if this happens, the gains made in the solar industry are at risk, before the cost of solar energy reaches parity with traditional energy sources, it says.

Thompson's bill, H.R. 2412, addresses this by extending residential and commercial ITCs for another five years, the point at which many energy analysts believe the cost of solar will reach "grid parity" in most U.S. electricity markets, he said.

The bill has been referred to the House Committee on Ways and Means.

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