Some solar power companies are redoubling efforts to lock in a federal tax credit that is set to start phasing out next year.
In a letter sent to congressional lawmakers last Wednesday, the Solar Energy Industries Association and more than 900 solar companies began efforts to extend it.
The 30% tax credit has been available to solar companies that either start new panel construction or spend a portion of a solar project’s cost by the end of this year. Tempe-based First Solar is one of many companies that has stockpiled panels in advance of the phase out.
The extension is opposed by Chuck Grassley, the Republican chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, which oversees tax issues.
A longtime supporter of credits for both wind and solar, Grassley promised subsidy critics in 2015 — the last time it was extended — that there would be no repeat.
The extension would need Republican support to pass. If allowed to sunset, the tax credit would drop to 26% in 2020, with an annual step-down until 2022.
It would then settle at a permanent 10% for utility and commercial projects and be eliminated for residential systems.
