House & Senate Advance Bill to Extend Solar Tax Credit

Less than an hour ago, the House and Senate reached an agreement and unanimously passed HF2468, which includes the critical language needed to continue Iowa’s upfront solar tax credit. The bill will now go to the Governor’s desk for approval.

This was a hard-fought victory. The Council and its allies have been at the Capitol this week meeting with legislators, working to build consensus, and coordinating with diverse stakeholders including solar trade groups, small businesses and agriculture groups to convey that there is strong support for this important program. Earlier this week, we called upon our supporters to contact their legislators to ask them to  preserve solar energy growth and stability in Iowa. There is no question that hearing directly from so many constituents left a strong impression on legislators and helped pass this bill. Thank you to all that took action.

In addition to fixing the unintentional technical error made earlier this session that put Iowa’s solar tax incentive program at risk, HF2468 also extends the eligibility deadline for 476C solar and wind projects by one year. Projects previously approved to receive these clean energy incentives now have until the end of 2017 to be completed. Without this extension, projects that are approved and even under development – but not online by the end of 2016 –  would have lost the tax incentive. This likely would have resulted in several canceled projects.

Unfortunately, the bill did not include several key improvements to strength the 476C program, including a 10MW increase for solar, which would have allowed for additional solar projects. While we were disappointed to see this struck from the final bill, we are not deterred. We look forward to working with policymakers this summer, fall and at the Legislature next year to advance this and other measures that expand Iowans’ access to clean energy.

1. clean energy
2. iowa legislature
3. solar power
4. solar tax credits