A push to establish an Investment Tax Credit (ITC) for energy storage has not only been welcomed by clean energy advocates and the industry, but might also meet the some stated aims of the Trump administration’s energy policies, an analyst has said.
Michael Doyle, a Democrat, has proposed in the US House of Representatives the bill HR2096, an amendment to the tax code to issue credits “for energy storage technologies and other purposes”. At present, the ITC is applicable to purchases of solar PV equipment and energy storage, but only if bought and installed at the same time as the solar.
The solar tax credit is equivalent to 30% of the cost of solar equipment purchases and offers customers a rebate via their income tax bill. It was due for expiry by 2017 but was unexpectedly extended and is now being phased out between now and 2022.
It’s only the latest in a series of efforts by some US policymakers to introduce an ITC specific to energy storage. In November last year, a group of renewable energy and environmental organisations urged US Congress to “clarify” the eligibility of energy storage for the tax break, after New Mexico Senator Martin Heinreich proposed a bill in 2016, S.1868, which would amend revenue codes to apply either the ITC, similar tax relief measures or include energy stored in batteries, flywheels and pumped hydro in ‘Energy Credits’ policies. Unsurprisingly, Energy-Storage.news has already received comments from several energy storage companies welcoming the possible extension of the ITC to include their technologies.
Alex Eller, senior analyst with Navigant Research, told Energy-Storage.news that he hoped Rep Doyle’s bill might have a better chance of going through into law than some previous efforts, which appear to have “kind of stalled,” Eller said.
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