Advocates of renewable energy predict the House will pass a package of extensions for expiring tax breaks for renewables before the Memorial Day recess. The House has approved similar bills before, including one in February, but prospects in the Senate remain less clear-cut. Some Republicans there say they won’t support any tax “extenders” with hikes in other taxes to offset or pay for the credits. “We don’t know if it’s going to get hung up in the Senate just on the principle of ‘pay-fors,’” says Monique Hanis, a Solar Energy Industries Association spokesperson.
The House neared a vote on a $57-billion collection of tax incentives that the Ways and Means Committee cleared on May 15. The bill’s $20 billion in breaks for renewables include a six-year extension of the investment credit for solar energy and a one-year extension of the production credit for wind projects. It also has a one-year extension for the research-and-development credit, an incentive that has substantial engineering industry support, says Steve Hall, American Council of Engineering Companies’ vice president for government affairs.