Low-income and other marginalized communities that have been largely abandoned in the clean energy revolution could see far more community solar projects and rooftop solar panels under the Senate-passed climate package.
The more generous credits would add either a 10% or even 20% bonus credit for solar projects in disadvantaged communities depending on certain criteria—on top of the 30% solar energy investment tax credit available in the measure.
“You could be looking at a 50% ITC for putting solar in a low-income area,” said Jeremy Woodrum, the Solar Energy Industries Association’s director of congressional affairs.
The House is expected to pass the Inflation Reduction Act (H.R. 5376) on Aug. 12, and President Joe Biden is expected to sign it.
The enhanced incentives for disadvantaged communities are just some of the provisions in the legislation that would benefit communities of color, rural regions suffering from declining fossil fuel jobs, and other communities bearing the brunt of US pollution.