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The U.S. Energy Storage Association (ESA) released the following statement after the U.S. Senate Committee on Finance included the energy storage investment tax credit in its markup :
“We applaud the Senate Finance Committee for including the investment tax credit for storage in its markup,”said U.S. Energy Storage Association Interim CEO Jason Burwen.“We cannot rely on yesterday’s infrastructure to deal with tomorrow’s climate. An ITC for storage is critical to achieve our country’s decarbonization goals and enable communities to be resilient to increasing disruptions from extreme weather. Modernizing our electric infrastructure with energy storage also spurs clean energy job growth across the country.”
“Wethank Chairman Wyden for advancing clean energy tax legislation through the committee with a storage ITC included, and ESA looks forward to working with Senate and House committees to ensure that additional incentives for sourcing from U.S. manufacturers and for siting projects in disadvantaged communities are crafted effectively. We urge Members of Congress in both chambers to ensure the storage ITC and related clean energy infrastructure investments are enacted into law this year. We have no time to lose in tackling the climate crisis with investments of unprecedented scale in resilient, clean energy infrastructure, including energy storage.”
The Clean Energy for America Act offers a technology-neutral clean energy tax framework. Policies in the bill before today’s amendments were offered included: Tax credits for clean energy and infrastructure, which phase out once U.S. power system greenhouse gas levels decline 75% below 2021 levels; 30% ITC specifically for energy storage as a stand-alone asset; The option to elect direct payment of tax credit values, including storage ITC; and Bonus tax credits for siting storage and other projects in disadvantaged communities.
BACKGROUND
During the first quarter of 2021, momentum for the ITC for storage has grown. In March, President Biden released his American Jobs Plan, which called for the ITC for energy storage. The subsequent Made in America Tax Plan by the Treasury Department also included the ITC for storage, examining its role in increasing reliability of clean energy supply. More than 150 organizations sent a letter to U.S. House and Senate leaders requesting they include bipartisan legislation to make standalone storage projects eligible for the ITC in the upcoming infrastructure bill. Sen. Martin Heinrich (D-NM), Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME), Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D-OR), Rep. Mike Doyle (D-PA) and Rep. Vern Buchanan (R-FL) have introduced the bipartisan Energy Storage Tax Incentive and Deployment Act (S. 627 / H.R. 1684) to remove limits on applying the investment tax credit to storage technologies only when integrated with ITC-eligible solar projects. This legislation is mirrored in the GREEN Act (H.R. 848) introduced in February by House Ways & Means Chairman Rep. Mike Thompson (D-CA) and in the Clean Energy for America Act(S. 1288)introduced by Senate Finance Chairman Ron Wyden (D-OR) in April, both of which include making storage technologies eligible for the ITC with an option to elect direct payment of the credit. As outlined in ESA’s 2030 Vision, at least 100 GW of new energy storage is needed to drive the clean energy transition and transform the electric system to handle 21st century demands. The United States has deployed over 3 GW of battery and other advanced energy storage to date.
