Solar Grant Program May Have New Legs

Source: RoofInfo

As Greg Jenner reported yesterday, there may be hope for solar funding in one version of the tax bill currently before the Senate.

This version, a compromise between the Senate and the White House, was voted on Tuesday, Dec. 14, and includes a one-year extension of the Treasury Grant Program mandate (TGP; 1603) to Dec. 31, 2011. Unofficial “cloture” vote counts indicate the measure will pass handily.

For renewable energy firms, especially those planning utility-scale solar photovoltaic (PV), solar thermal and concentrating solar power (CSP; parabolic trough, Fresnel lens, Stirling engine and heliostats with a power tower), this means the rush to break ground or expend 5 percent of project costs now has a one-year breathing period.

Jenner, former Acting (and Deputy) Assistant Secretary of the U.S. Treasury for Tax Policy and currently a partner and tax adviser for a prestigious law firm, notes that this package is simply an extension, and does not reflect any compromise with the House.

As Jenner is quick to point out, the TGP remains on perilous ground, because the House is the author of the complete revision and may refuse to agree on any Senate version. In fact, it is not obligated by law or tradition to do so, so the Senate version – which includes the 100-percent deduction for the year the property goes online – may be nothing more than whistling up the wind.

This is particularly true of a Democratic House faced with losing its majority once new members are seated in January – a precarious power position that makes the word “compromise” seem like weakness.

We can only hope that elected Representatives see not a power base but a bigger picture, in which the new American economy and its renewable energy paradigm comes first. Because the TGP doesn’t just provide clean, renewable solar energy. It also provides jobs.