U.S. House Lawmaker Proposes Bill to Establish Energy Storage Tax Credit

Rep. Michael Doyle, a Democrat representing Pennsylvania, introduced legislation on April 4 that would expand the solar investment tax credit to include energy storage technology for utilities, businesses, and homes. The current tax code provides the credit for battery technologies paired with a solar installations. (H.R.2096)

More than 100 House Democrats, led by Congresswoman Haley Stevens, sent a letter to House Ways & Means Chairman Richard Neal, a Democrat representing Massachusetts, seeking long-term certainty of clean energy tax incentives. The letter requested clarity in the tax code for storage technologies, which are critical for the continued expansion of intermittent technologies, such as wind and solar, and to support efforts to modernize the grid to make it more efficient and resilient.

The extension of the federal investment tax credit in late 2015 created federal policy stability through 2021. The ITC will remain at 30 percent for projects started through 2019, reduce to 26 percent in 2020, then to 22 percent in 2021. The commercial and utility credit remain at 10 percent after 2021, while the residential credit will sunset. The bill would extend the investment tax credit for battery investments in a wider range of applications and provide more certainty for investors.