NanoVoltaix Company Blog (Solar) - Policy

House Passes Bill to Address Threat of Climate Change

nospam@example.com (chief editor) — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 10:18:24 -0600

Source: The New Yoke Times

By JOHN M. BRODER
Published: June 26, 2009

WASHINGTON — The House passed legislation on Friday intended to address global warming and transform the way the nation produces and uses energy.

The vote was the first time either house of Congress had approved a bill meant to curb the heat-trapping gases scientists have linked to climate change. The legislation, which passed despite deep divisions among Democrats, could lead to profound changes in many sectors of the economy, including electric power generation, agriculture, manufacturing and construction.

The bill’s passage, by 219 to 212, with 44 Democrats voting against it, also established a marker for the United States when international negotiations on a new climate change treaty begin later this year.

At the heart of the legislation is a cap-and-trade system that sets a limit on overall emissions of heat-trapping gases while allowing utilities, manufacturers and other emitters to trade pollution permits, or allowances, among themselves. The cap would grow tighter over the years, pushing up the price of emissions and presumably driving industry to find cleaner ways of making energy.

Continue reading "House Passes Bill to Address Threat of Climate Change"

Federal Solar Tax Credits Extended for 8 Years, US Poised to Become Largest Solar Market in the World

nospam@example.com (chief editor) — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 11:57:43 -0600

http://seia.org/cs/news_detail?pressrelease.id=217

WASHINGTON – Today, by a vote of 263 to 171, the U.S. House of Representatives passed historic legislation that extends the 30-percent federal investment tax credit for both residential and commercial solar installations for 8 years. This landmark legislation is part of H.R. 1424, the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008, designed to address the U.S. financial crisis. It is the most significant federal policy ever enacted for the solar industry. President Bush has vowed to sign the bill into law. The Senate passed the bill on Wednesday night.

“This bill is a major step in our long journey toward energy independence and ensures that solar energy will be a significant part of America’s energy future,” said SEIA president Rhone Resch. “This long-term extension of the solar tax credits will create a domestic solar industry with hundreds of thousands of jobs while providing clean, affordable, carbon-free energy to millions of American families, businesses, and communities.”

“On behalf of the 60,000 Americans employed by the solar energy industry, we would like to thank Leaders Reid and McConnell and Senators Baucus, Grassley, Cantwell and Ensign for their dogged support of the solar tax credit extension. In the House we are thankful to Leaders Pelosi, Hoyer, Boehner, and Blunt, and Chairman Rangel, Ranking Republican McCrery and Rep. Camp among many others who have long worked to bring solar energy to the mainstream. These leaders have broken through partisan politics and have provided a bright future for solar energy in the United States,” said Resch

“By passing this bill, Congress has finally given the solar energy industry ‘policy certainty’ that will attract investment, expand manufacturing and lower the cost of solar energy to consumers,” said Roger Efird, SEIA chairman and president of Suntech America, a leading Chinese solar power manufacturing company. “This will allow companies like mine to move forward with expansion plans to serve the growing U.S. market.”

“This bill puts the sun to work for every American,” added Resch. “And by 2016, we expect solar energy to be the least expensive source of electricity for consumers.”

Continue reading "Federal Solar Tax Credits Extended for 8 Years, US Poised to Become Largest Solar Market in the World"

Senate OKs energy tax breaks in bailout bill

nospam@example.com (chief editor) — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 09:03:39 -0600

By Ayesha Rascoe

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Senate late on Wednesday approved legislation extending billions of dollars in tax credits for the solar, wind and biodiesel industries as part of a $700 billion rescue plan for Wall Street.

The legislation would extend for one year the production tax credit for wind energy, with an eight-year extension for investment tax credits for solar energy projects.

Buyers of plug-in electric cars would receive tax credits ranging from $2,500 to $7,500.

The bill also provides incentives for the use of biodiesel. However, critics of this subsidy say it promotes a "splash and dash" loophole where companies mix foreign biofuels with U.S. biodiesel to receive the U.S. subsidy, but then sell the fuel at a discount to European markets.

Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus said with the addition of the tax incentives, the bailout bill will help average Americans as well as Wall Street.

"Senators and representatives can now know that a 'yes' vote on the financial rescue plan is now a vote to rescue America's working families from this financial crisis, with the right tax relief at just the right time," Baucus said in a statement.

The House of Representatives will now take up the modified bailout bill, after rejecting a similar rescue plan on Monday.

However, the House will now be under pressure to follow the Senate's action. It is not clear how adding the tax package will affect the legislation in the House.

Continue reading "Senate OKs energy tax breaks in bailout bill"

Energy tax incentives will be attached to $700 billion economic rescue plan

nospam@example.com (chief editor) — Wed, 01 Oct 2008 09:11:58 -0600

www.politico.com

The bailout is back.

Senate leaders have decided to take up the failed House version of the $700 billion economic rescue bill, and plan to add a widely supported change in the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. caps.

In what is shaping up to be yet another historic vote, presidential candidates Barack Obama and John McCain will return to Washington tonight for a late night vote.

But unlike the tumultuous House vote, the Senate roll call is expected to go more smoothly. While nothing is a slam dunk at this point, there is an expectation on both sides of the aisle that the bailout could receive 60 votes in the Senate, enough to overcome any potential filibuster.

The decision to hold this vote Wednesday in the Senate comes after Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) spent much of the day pressuring the Senate Democrats to put the bill on the schedule. Late Tuesday, Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) relented and agreed to schedule the vote after sundown on Wednesday, when Rosh Hashanah ends.

“The voters sent us here to respond to crises, not to ignore them," McConnell said. "And if you fail the first time, you get back up, and you work with each other.”

Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.), embraced the idea as well, but sought to give Reid credit for attaching the FDIC measure and a widely popular tax extenders bill to the bailout.

“This is a brilliant move by Harry, and I believe it will help pick up votes on both sides of the aisle.”

Reid spokesman Jim Manley said the decision to hold the vote came after day-long discussions with other senators believe this is the "best way to jump start this process would be for the senate to go first."

The Senate vote is designed to not only send the right message to the financial markets, but also to ratchet up pressure on the House, which killed the bill 228-205 on Monday afternoon.

The proposal will be taken up along with a renewable energy tax credit extension. Aides say the bill will include an increase in the amount of deposits insured by the FDIC from $100,000 to $250,000 —measure backed by both the presidential candidates.

The chamber will also vote on a millionaires' surtax proposed by Sen. Bernie Sanders, a Vermont independent who caucuses with Democrats.

Technically, all revenue raising bills are supposed to originate in the House, but the Senate will use the tax extenders bill as the legislative vehicle for the $700 billion economic rescue plan.

So far, even the most staunch Senate conservatives have not threatened a filibuster in the Senate. Even if the bill clears the Senate by a comfortable margin, though, it's not clear where House leaders will find enough vote switchers to win passage in that chamber.

There is one looming political problem with Democrats in the House now that the energy tax incentives will be attached: The legislation is not paid for with any revenue increase, and that may cause trouble with the staunch balanced budget crowd of "Blue Dog" Democrats.

A House Democratic leadership aide said the Blue Dogs were "furious" over Reid's maneuver, which is designed to draw GOP support.

Speaker Nancy Pelosi endorsed the Senate move, but made no promises about the next House vote.

"The Senate has made a decision about how to proceed and what can pass that body," Pelosi said. "The Senate will vote tomorrow night and the Congress will work its will. House Democrats remain strongly committed to a comprehensive bill that stabilizes the financial markets, restores confidence, and protects taxpayers, and we hope Congress can agree on legislation in the very near future."

Overall, The package is not without peril and to succeed will depend on House Republicans significantly increasing their numbers from the 65 who supported the Treasury rescue plan when it failed Monday.

Many Democrats were already upset that Republicans and the White House had watered down their effort to require Treasury to impose a fee on Wall Street transactions in five years to help recoup any taxpayer losses. The expanded Senate package envisioned now would compound this loss by adding a set of tax breaks that also will add billions to the deficit without the "pay-fors" many fiscally conservative Democrats want.

U.S. Senate OKs extending energy tax credits

nospam@example.com (chief editor) — Wed, 24 Sep 2008 09:12:19 -0600

Source: Reuters

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Senate Tuesday (Sept. 23) approved a package to extend $18 billion in tax credits for using renewable energy sources like wind, solar and geothermal and also provide incentives to cut energy consumption.

The move, which alternative energy companies had been lobbying for all year, sent shares of solar power companies higher in after-hours trade. The delay in extending the tax credits had been a major damper on those stocks this year. The Senate was seen as the biggest roadblock after it shot down the extension eight times this year.

"Getting past what has been largely the deal-breaker in the past should be positive," Wedbush Morgan analyst Al Kaschalk said of the impact the vote would have on solar stocks.

Under the proposal, which will be part of a much bigger tax bill, the tax credit for producing electricity from wind would be extended for one year. The credit for other renewable sources, such as wave and ocean tide projects that generate power, would be extended for two years.

The residential and business tax breaks for solar energy would be extended for eight years.

"Solar is the winner here," Raymond James alternative energy analyst Pavel Molchanov said.

Continue reading "U.S. Senate OKs extending energy tax credits"

Time is running out on solar tax credit bill

nospam@example.com (chief editor) — Wed, 17 Sep 2008 08:47:40 -0600

EE Times

SAN JOSE, Calif. -- The U.S. House of Representatives has passed the solar tax credit bill, but the Senate remains the stumbling block in the arena.

Solar Energy Industries Association president Rhone Resch released the following statement after the U.S. House of Representatives passed the Comprehensive American Energy Security and Consumer Protection Act by a vote of 236 to 189:

''I am pleased that the House has again supported solar tax credits and passed H.R. 6899. I strongly urge the Senate to follow the lead of their House colleagues and pass this tax credit before leaving for the campaign trail,'' he said.

''Time is running out and the Senate needs to act now to ensure that the solar tax credits are extended,'' he said.

A study issued by Navigant Consulting showed that the tax credits passed by the House will create more than 1.2 million employment opportunities, including 440,000 permanent jobs, and $232 billion in investment would be supported by the solar energy sector though 2016 if Congress extends the solar tax credit.

Berkeley council to vote on solar tax district

nospam@example.com (chief editor) — Tue, 16 Sep 2008 09:18:29 -0600

Carolyn Jones, Chronicle Staff Writer

Berkeley is expected to make a major leap forward Tuesday in its first-in-the-nation plan to allow homeowners to pay for solar energy systems through their property taxes.

The City Council is slated to approve a new tax district that residents could join voluntarily to finance solar energy systems for their homes. The city would reimburse the homeowner for the installation and material costs, and the homeowner would pay back the money at a fixed rate over 20 years. The advantages for homeowners are that the city can borrow money at a lower interest rate than an individual can and that the tax program would stay with the house if the homeowner sells.

Cities and counties throughout the United States, eager to reduce greenhouse emissions, have been watching Berkeley's progress with the plan, which has been delayed by the slow economy and difficulty in finding a financial institution willing to invest in the program. City staff members have been negotiating with several institutions and will announce their selection next week.

"If this works, it'll be the most important thing we've done to fight global warming and climate change," said Mayor Tom Bates. "But the devil's been in the details."

On a typical $22,000 solar energy system, residents would pay about $180 a month, based on a 6.75 interest rate, after state and federal rebates are issued. At some point the homeowner would save more on their electricity bill than they're spending on the solar tax, if energy rates continue to climb.

The city plans to set up a series of workshops for residents who want to participate in the program beginning next month. The workshops will also address other steps homeowners can take to make their homes more energy efficient.

Berkeley City Hall has been flooded with interest from residents and other municipalities, but the program is probably not right for everyone, said Deputy City Manager Christine Daniel.

"People have to look at this for their own reasons," she said. "It depends on how much power you use, the economic side, how interested you are in climate change or an array of those reasons put together."

San Francisco, Santa Cruz County, Palm Desert (Riverside County), Galt (Sacramento County), Boulder, Colo., and the state of Colorado are among the agencies that are close to establishing solar financing districts, based on Berkeley's model.

"Cities all over the state are struggling to reduce emissions, and this is a way they can really make a difference," said Cisco De Vries, who drew up the original plan as Bates' former chief of staff and who now works as a public policy energy consultant. "I have yet to meet a city that thinks this is a bad idea."

Berkeley has set particularly tough emissions goals. In November 2006 voters passed Measure G, which mandates the city to reduce its greenhouse emissions by 80 percent by 2050.

At its Sept. 23 meeting, the City Council will hear the city staff's long-range plan to meet the Measure G goals.

The Berkeley City Council will meet at 7 p.m. Tuesday at old City Hall, 2134 Martin Luther King Jr. Way. For more information, go to links.sfgate.com/ZEVJ.

E-mail Carolyn Jones at carolynjones@sfchronicle.com.

This article appeared on page B - 1 of the San Francisco Chronicle

$100 billion green investment plan will yield two million new jobs in two years

nospam@example.com (chief editor) — Wed, 10 Sep 2008 08:31:51 -0600

Gina Roos
Green SupplyLine

Washington, D.C. — The Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) and partner labor and environmental groups have released a new report that shows that the U.S. can create two million jobs by investing in clean energy technologies that will strengthen the economy and fight global warming.

The report, titled "Green Recovery — A Program to Create Good Jobs and Start Building a Low-Carbon Economy" analyzes the potential for a two-year $100 billion green investment program, based on a combination of private and public investments, to be the engine for job creation in the U.S. This is comparable to the size of the April 2008 federal stimulus package dedicated to consumer rebates, according to NRDC. The report was written by the Political Economy Research Institute (PERI) at the University of Massachusetts-Amherst, under commission by the Center for American Progress (CAP).

Investment in renewable energy and efficiency are central to the proposed economic recovery program, said John Podesta, president and CEO for CAP. He says the $100 billion investment would create 2 million jobs over two years, and spending it on green energy, wind power, solar power, next-generation biofuels; retrofitting buildings, expanding mass transmit; and constructing "smart" electrical grid transmission systems will create 4 times more jobs than spending the same amount on the oil industry and 300,000 more jobs than spending on household consumption.

"It's a solid long-term program that begins to address our energy needs, creates good jobs and helps reduce our employment rate from the high levels now to 4.4 percent, and boosts and bolsters employment in construction and manufacturing, which has taken a massive hit as a result of the housing collapse," Podesta added.

Other report findings indicate that the program will also triple the number of good jobs, paying at least $16 dollars an hour.

Here's what the report proposes for initial investments:

$50 billion for tax credits to assist private businesses and homeowners to finance both commercial and residential building retrofits, as well as investments in renewable-energy systems.
$46 billion in direct government spending to support public building retrofits, the expansion of mass transit, freight rail and smart electrical-grid systems, and new investments in renewable energy.
$4 billion for federal loan guarantees to underwrite private credit that is extended to finance building retrofits and investments in renewable energy.

Solar projects dominate Indian semi proposals

nospam@example.com (chief editor) — Mon, 04 Aug 2008 09:50:41 -0600

EE Times

BANGALORE, India — The Indian government is reviewing a dozen proposals worth $23 billion under its semiconductor and electronics manufacturing policy to determine which are eligible for an incentive package announced last year.

Most of the proposed investments are for manufacturing solar photovoltaic panels.

Among the proposals are a semiconductor wafer fabrication plant and a plan to manufacture TFT and LCD flat-panel displays. All proposals will be reviewed by a panel of technical experts created by the federal Department of Information Technology, according to A. Raja, minister for communications and information technology.

The proposals will be screened for technological and economic viability, among other things. Some will receive government subsidies and other benefits.

According to the incentive scheme meant to boost India's meager electronics manufacturing, the government would provide 20 percent of capital expenditures during the first 10 years for technology projects located in special economic zones. It would provide 25 percent of capital expenditures for projects outside these zones. Incentives include financial subsidies and equity participation.

Continue reading "Solar projects dominate Indian semi proposals"

Washington, DC, USA: Senate Records 8th Failure to Extend Solar Tax Credits

nospam@example.com (chief editor) — Wed, 30 Jul 2008 16:48:44 -0600

The Senate today failed to pass a cloture motion on S. 3335, the Jobs, Energy, Families and Disaster Relief Act, which included provisions to extend the solar investment tax credit for eight years.

The motion failed by a vote of 51 to 43, unable to gain the support of 60 senators needed for passage.

Solar Energy Industries Association president Rhone Resch said, “For the eighth time since June 2007, the Senate was unable to reach a bipartisan compromise to extend solar tax credits which are vital to the solar industry and our economy. Time is running out to extend the solar tax credits and without passage in the immediate future, tens of thousands of jobs and billions of dollars will be lost in new solar investment. Already companies are putting projects on hold and preparing to send thousands of jobs overseas – real jobs that would otherwise be filled by American workers. Failure to extend the solar tax credits is a severe blow to an industry that has proven to be an economic engine for the U.S. at a time when we need it most."

He added, "The Senate now has little time left this year to extend these tax credits. I strongly urge the Senate to figure out a bipartisan compromise and immediately extend the solar tax credit when they return from their August recess.”