Solar ITC up for a vote this week

The very important Solar Energy ITC (investment tax credit) is coming up for a vote this week. It will extend the Solar ITC for eight years (until 2016) along with doubling the residential credit cap up to $4,000. The house passed a similar bill in May (HR 6049), so once this is signed, its on to reconciling the differences and heading to the President’s desk.

I’ve covered why Solar power is important before. But this is really the piece that will probably cement it and make sure solar power is here to stay. Not to be too optimistic, but I wouldn’t be surprised that if by 2016, solar power is efficient enough for us to not have to renew the ITC!

Lets also take a look at the other energy-related provisions of this bill…

• Biodiesel tax credit
• 50% Write-off of facilities related to cellulosic ethanol before the end of 2013
• Tax credit for Plug-in electric hybrids (the upcoming Chevy Volt would receive a $5,000 credit, the base amount is $3,000 for a car with a 5kW battery)
• Tax credit for energy efficiency improvements to existing homes, as well as new commercial buildings
• Expedited depreciation for smart grid and smart meter systems (from 20 years down to 10 years)

The one that stuck out to me that I wasn’t aware of was the credit for PHEVs. I’m a huge fan of EVs and PHEVs – the Chevy Volt can reduce the amount of gasoline consumed on a per-car basis upwards of 95% – even up to 97-98% in various circumstances. Of course, this would require the car also run on E85 (which GM has committed to), and hopefully this E85 would be cellulosic rather than corn-based.

There is one thing in this bill in the energy section that made me take notice – a provision to make the black lung disability trust fund solvent. So the next time you hear someone complain about renewable subsidies, remind them that coal not only has an impact on the environment, but on the workers too, and the federal government is going to spend $1.2B on making this fund solvent for all the miners who will have to suffer with black lung.

The bill does other things too, most notably bump up the AMT limits and extend the deduction of local and state taxes for 2008 (yeah for me since I don’t pay state income tax but do pay a good amount of money in car registration “fees” and property taxes).

The bill is supposed to be packaged in such a way that’s its hard to vote against – it is called “The Jobs, Energy, Families, and Disaster Relief Act of 2008″ after all. I would expect it to pass.