Stimulating Clean, Green Manufacturing (S. 2857)

U.S. Senate Committee on Energy & Natural Resources - U.S. Senators Jeff Bingaman (D-NM), Orrin G. Hatch (R-UT), Debbie Stabenow (D-MI) and Richard Lugar (R-IN) have introduced legislation that would create jobs by encouraging the manufacture of renewable energy technologies in the United States.

The senators’ American Clean Technology Manufacturing Leadership Act extends the life of a successful tax credit that allows companies to write off 30 percent of the cost of creating, expanding, or re-equipping facilities to manufacture renewable energy technologies, like solar panels, wind turbines, and advanced batteries.

The legislation expands an innovative tax incentive first created at Bingaman’s urging in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. The Act authorized the Departments of Energy and the Treasury to award up to $2.3 billion in tax credits. But due to an unexpectedly high number of applicants, that program will run out of funds by mid-January. The senators’ American Clean Technology Manufacturing Leadership Act (S. 2857) would provide an additional $2.5 billion in tax credits, enough to leverage $8.33 billion in new domestic investment.