Chairman Richard Neal               Ranking Member Kevin Brady
The U.S. House of Representatives       The U.S. House of Representatives
Ways & Means Committee       Ways & Means Committee
1102 Longworth HOB       1102 Longworth HOB
Washington, D.C., 20515              Washington, D.C.,  20515

Chairman Ron Wyden       Ranking Member Mike Crapo
U.S. Senate                      U.S. Senate
Committee on Finance              Committee on Finance
219 Dirksen Senate Office Building       219 Dirksen Senate Office Building
Washington, D.C., 20510              Washington, D.C., 20510

Dear Chairman Neal, Ranking Member Brady, Chairman Wyden, and Ranking Member Crapo:
 
Our solar energy companies are among 10,000 local solar businesses across the country that provide good jobs for 250,000 Americans. With further growth, the solar industry is poised to address the urgent challenges of the climate crisis, economic recovery, and unemployment.

Like many emerging industries that provide significant public benefit, the solar industry has been strengthened over the last few years by supportive federal policy. We write to respectfully request that you build on this success to achieve continued gains for our citizens, communities, and planet. Specifically:

Extend the Investment Tax Credit. This highly effective instrument helped create America’s solar industry. Extending it for many years at 30% will provide the certainty for businesses like ours to hire more employees and deploy solar power more rapidly.

Create an Even Playing Field. The tax code currently provides a floor of 10% permanency only to businesses. We need an “all of the above” solution to meet our state and federal goals for renewable energy deployment. Establishing parity for both these important sectors by allowing Section 25D to be on the same schedule as Section 48 will put homeowners on the same footing as corporations.

Provide Direct Pay. Providing direct pay will ensure the credits benefit millions of low and moderate income Americans who lack tax liability, many of whom face a disproportionately high energy burden. Also excluded are tax exempt entities. Making this federal support a cash grant would open up solar power to these households, charities, schools, and tribes.

Welcome Storage as the Next Generation Technology. Energy storage provides multiple benefits for grid stabilization, reduced costs for transmission and distribution maintenance, and savings on peak generation. It also ensures that homes and businesses won’t lose power during the increasingly common natural disasters often caused or exacerbated by climate change. Applying the ITC to energy storage (as a stand alone technology) is imperative for a clean energy future.

These follow-on applications of the established and effective ITC are the best ways for the federal government to accelerate adoption of solar energy and all the societal benefits that it provides.

We greatly appreciate your consideration of these advancements in American clean energy policy.

 
Sincerely,

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Cc:  The White House