[SustainableTompkins] summary of 2007 Energy Bill?

[Rob Garrity]

We're already seeing the effect of congress failing to extend the tax  
credit beyond 2008 with our large commercial projects which have  
timelines beyond the year's end.

Must work for Congressional action on this and the national RPS. RGGI  
could be quite instrumental in RE deployment aswell!

Rob Garrity





"ENERGY BILL'S TOUGH MANDATES SEEN AS THREAT TO BURGEONING SOLAR POWER  
INDUSTRY

*Source: Associated Press


The omission of renewed investment tax credits for solar energy in the  
wide-sweeping energy bill signed by President Bush late last month has  
put the future health of the U.S. solar power industry in question.

The bill includes more stringent mandates for fuel economy and energy  
efficiency, but it doesn't extend the investment tax credit for  
companies specializing in solar power systems. That credit, which  
amounts to 30 percent of the value of qualified residential or  
commercial solar equipment, is set to revert to 10 percent at the end  
of 2008 unless it is extended.

Solar companies also lost out because the bill didn't include a  
mandate that would have required utilities to produce up to 15 percent  
of their electricity from renewable energy sources. More than half the  
states, most of them in the Northeast and on the West Coast, already  
have similar requirements.

Because the solar investment tax credit will fall to 10 percent at the  
end of 2008 unless a new bill is passed, solar companies will likely  
rush to complete projects before the end of the year. Projects that  
are on shaky financial ground without the credit are likely to be  
abandoned, Carboy said.

Sales of photovoltaic panels and other solar equipment may begin to  
drop off after the first quarter if the tax credit isn't renewed, said  
Rhone Resch, the president of the Solar Energy Industries Association,  
a Washington, D.C.-based industry group. And concentrating solar power  
projects, which use mirrors to focus the sun's power, require longer  
lead times and may go completely dormant without the credit, Resch said.

If Congress doesn't renew the investment tax credit in 2008, some  
solar companies are likely to seek business opportunities overseas  
instead of in the United States. In Spain, for example, the government  
has targeted 12 percent of its energy to come from renewable sources  
by 2010, with 400 megawatts to come from solar-generating capacity.  
China also has ambitious plans for solar energy, aiming to generate  
and consume about 300 megawatts of solar energy by 2010.

For the complete story:

http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/080108/energy_bill_solar_power.html?.v=1

"





On Jan 8, 2008, at 10:55 PM, gaynicholson at aol.com wrote:

> Hello,
>
> Has anyone run across a good summary of the 2007 Energy bill that is  
> relatively quick to digest?
>
> thanks,
> Gay
>
> ----------------------------------------------------
> Gay Nicholson, Ph.D.
>
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>
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> Program Coordinator
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>
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>
>
>
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