We're already seeing the effect of congress failing to extend the tax credit beyond 2008 with our large commercial projects which have timelines beyond the year's end.
Must work for Congressional action on this and the national RPS. RGGI could be quite instrumental in RE deployment aswell! Rob Garrity "ENERGY BILL'S TOUGH MANDATES SEEN AS THREAT TO BURGEONING SOLAR POWER INDUSTRY *Source: Associated Press The omission of renewed investment tax credits for solar energy in the wide-sweeping energy bill signed by President Bush late last month has put the future health of the U.S. solar power industry in question. The bill includes more stringent mandates for fuel economy and energy efficiency, but it doesn't extend the investment tax credit for companies specializing in solar power systems. That credit, which amounts to 30 percent of the value of qualified residential or commercial solar equipment, is set to revert to 10 percent at the end of 2008 unless it is extended. Solar companies also lost out because the bill didn't include a mandate that would have required utilities to produce up to 15 percent of their electricity from renewable energy sources. More than half the states, most of them in the Northeast and on the West Coast, already have similar requirements. Because the solar investment tax credit will fall to 10 percent at the end of 2008 unless a new bill is passed, solar companies will likely rush to complete projects before the end of the year. Projects that are on shaky financial ground without the credit are likely to be abandoned, Carboy said. Sales of photovoltaic panels and other solar equipment may begin to drop off after the first quarter if the tax credit isn't renewed, said Rhone Resch, the president of the Solar Energy Industries Association, a Washington, D.C.-based industry group. And concentrating solar power projects, which use mirrors to focus the sun's power, require longer lead times and may go completely dormant without the credit, Resch said. If Congress doesn't renew the investment tax credit in 2008, some solar companies are likely to seek business opportunities overseas instead of in the United States. In Spain, for example, the government has targeted 12 percent of its energy to come from renewable sources by 2010, with 400 megawatts to come from solar-generating capacity. China also has ambitious plans for solar energy, aiming to generate and consume about 300 megawatts of solar energy by 2010. For the complete story: http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/080108/energy_bill_solar_power.html?.v=1 " On Jan 8, 2008, at 10:55 PM, [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: > Hello, > > Has anyone run across a good summary of the 2007 Energy bill that is > relatively quick to digest? > > thanks, > Gay > > ---------------------------------------------------- > Gay Nicholson, Ph.D. > > 607-533-7312 (home office) > 607-279-6618 (cell) > > 1 Maple Avenue > Lansing, NY 14882 > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > Sustainable Tompkins > Program Coordinator > www.sustainabletompkins.org > > Southern Tier Energy$mart Communities > Regional Coordinator > Cornell Cooperative Extension of Tompkins County > 615 Willow Ave., Ithaca, NY 14850 > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > > > Start the year off right. Easy ways to stay in shape in the new year. _______________________________________________ RSS, archives, subscription & listserv information for: [email protected] http://lists.mutualaid.org/mailman/listinfo/sustainabletompkins free hosting by http://www.mutualaid.org
