"In December, the 111th Congress passed a one-year extension of the renewable energy grant in lieu of tax credit program, established by Section 1603 of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Tax Act of 2009. President Obama signed the extension into law as part of the Tax Relief, Unemployment Insurance Reauthorization, and Job Creation Act of 2010 that extended Bush-era tax cuts.
The tax credit program allows companies developing renewable energy projects to obtain a cash grant instead of taking the Production Tax Credit (ITC) or the Investment Tax Credit (ITC). The extension of this program is critical to the renewable energy industry since due to the economic downturn, many companies still do not have enough tax liability to take the tax credit.
The grant program has been critical to moving both the wind and solar industry forward during the recession, helping more than 1,450 renewable energy projects with funding in excess of $5.5 billion.
Pennsylvania renewable energy developers have taken advantage of this funding opportunity. According to the U.S. Department of Treasury, just over $15 million in funding was awarded to 118 solar projects in the state. In addition, the grant program helped spur the development of four new wind farms. The Highland Wind Farm, Locust Ridge II, Armenia Mountain and Stony Creek wind projects received a total of $204 million in funding, and are now contributing 317 megawatts of clean electricity to the grid each year.
With a renewed federal commitment to renewables and Pennsylvania's Alternative Energy Portfolio Standards Act, we look forward to seeing even more clean energy investment in 2011."
Thanks PennFuture for posting!
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