Senate Bill Would Extend Tax Credit 8 Years for Renewables

Another chapter in the ongoing saga to extend tax credits for the renewable energy industry. 

Yesterday Senators Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.) and John Ensign (R-Nev.) introduced a bill that would extend the investment tax credit (ITC) and provide incentives for energy-efficiency.

The Clean Energy Tax Stimulus Act of 2008 would extend the ITC for eight years for businesses, providing the stability needed (and dreamed of) by the renewable energy industry to attract long-term investment and calculate predictable financial returns.

Consumers would get a one-year extension of the 30% federal tax credit on renewable energy projects under the bill, and the $2000 cap would be removed. 

However, the bill does not detail how the credits will be paid for, sidestepping the pay-as-you-go rules that Congress has committed to. If, as in previous attempt to renew the credit, this bill is coupled with reductions in credit for big oil and gas companies, it will undoubtedly hit a major roadblock in the form of a Republican filibuster threat.