The House Democrats have recently introduced the progressive Moving Forward Act. If signed into law, the $1.5 trillion bill will offer pro-solar and pro-storage benefits while focusing on building new infrastructure in the transportation division. Over the next five years, the bill aims to reimagine the transportation industry by making stand-alone energy store investment tax credit (ITC) eligible and extending a 30% ITC through 2025. By voting this Act into place, the bill could help meet the demands of alleviating climate change while providing jobs to many Americans across the country.
Abigail Ross Hopper, the president and CEO of the Solar Industries Association (SEIA) states, “We know that with the right policies in place, including many of those proposed in the Moving Forward Act, clean energy can add hundreds of billions of dollars in investment and perhaps a million or more jobs back into the economy,”.
ITC eligibility in the solar storage workspace could help counteract the ongoing pandemic-related impacts felt throughout the industry. Widespread project delays, reduced revenues, and record job losses have ravaged the solar sector since the start of COVID-19 and this bill hopes to address that.
More than $70 billion would go towards transforming the electric grid. This includes making it more accommodating to renewable energy by expanding deployment, building new infrastructure, and establishing an electric vehicle (EV) charging network. From a financial standpoint, the Moving Forward Act also hopes to grant renewable energy access to low-income households and underserviced solar areas. Another grant program within the Act looks to provide public schools with solar improvements to help reduce energy costs.
While the fate of this bill is uncertain, the House of Representatives is planning to vote on the Moving Forward Act before the end of the month.
Many Americans support policies that aim to promote a clean and green energy future. With the Moving Forward Act in place, we’re one step closer to achieving just that. At Point Energy, we support the Houses’ attitude regarding the solar parts of the infrastructure proposal and would like to see bi-partisan support for it. While it would have been a great policy to implement before the start of the pandemic, we recognize the need and importance of it now to create jobs and provide clean, affordable energy. For all the latest solar energy happenings, be sure to follow us on LinkedIn.